Home Sales in Line With Expectations, Prices Up

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- Existing home sales -– the biggest chunk of the housing market -– came in as expected at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 4.75 million in September, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Though sales fell 1.7 percent in September compared to a month earlier, they are still up 11 percent compared to a year ago.  Sales are affected because getting a loan remains difficult. Many homeowners owe more on their home than it’s worth and there's too tight of a supply of homes for sale.

Home prices are going up at a pre-recession pace.  The national median existing-home price was $183,900 in September, up 11.3 percent from a year ago. The last time there were seven consecutive monthly year-over-year increases was from November 2005 to May 2006.  Prices are going up in part because there is a shortage of supply of homes for sale.

There is now a 5.9 month supply of homes available for sale, down from a six month supply in August. This is the lowest inventory since March 2006.  At its worst there was more than a year's supply of homes for sale.

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