US existing home sales for December 3.78M vs 3.82M estimate

<ul><li>Prior month 3.820M (vs 3.77M estimate last month).</li><li>Annual sales pace of existing home sales 3.78M vs 3.82M last month</li><li>Existing home sales -1.0% vs +0.8% last month</li><li>median home price for existing home sales $382,600 up 4.4% from December 2022</li><li>inventories of homes for sale 1 million units, 3.2 months worth</li><li>2023 existing home sales 4.09 million units which is the lowest annual level since 1995</li><li>Existing home inventory -11.5% MoM but up 4.2% YoY</li><li>According to Freddie Mac, the <a href="https://www.freddiemac.com/pmms" data-extlink="" data-di-="data-di-">30-year fixed-rate mortgage</a> averaged 6.60% as of January 18. That's down from 6.66% the prior week but up from 6.15% one year ago.</li></ul><p>Other details: </p><ul><li>Properties typically stayed on the market for 29 days in December, an increase from 25 days in November and 26 days in December 2022.</li><li>56% of homes sold in December were on the market for less than a month.</li><li>First-time buyers constituted 29% of sales in December, a decrease from 31% in both November 2023 and December 2022.</li><li>The annual share of first-time buyers was reported to be 32% in NAR's 2023 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers.</li><li>All-cash sales made up 29% of transactions in December, rising from 27% in November 2023 and 28% in December 2022.</li><li>Individual investors or second-home buyers accounted for 16% of home purchases in December, a decrease from 18% in November and consistent with the previous year.</li><li>Distressed sales, including foreclosures and short sales, comprised 2% of sales in December, remaining virtually unchanged from the previous month and year.</li></ul><p>Regionally: </p><ul><li>Northeast: Existing-home sales remained at 470,000 units, unchanged from November but down 9.6% from December 2022. Median price was $428,100, up 9.4% from the previous year.</li><li>Midwest: Existing-home sales decreased by 4.3% from the prior month to an annual rate of 900,000 in December, a 10.9% decline from the previous year. Median price was $275,600, up 5.9% from December 2022.</li><li>South: Existing-home sales dropped by 2.8% from November to an annual rate of 1.72 million in December, a 4.4% decrease from the prior year. Median price was $352,100, up 3.8% from one year ago.</li><li>West: Existing-home sales increased by 7.8% from the previous month to an annual rate of 690,000 in December, but were down 1.4% from the previous year. Median price was $582,000, up 4.8% from December 2022.</li></ul>

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.