WASHINGTON – Existing-home sales declined nationwide in August, when mortgage-availability issues were at their peak, the National Association of Realtors said in a report released today.
The existing-home sales rate – including single-family houses, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 4.3 percent from its July level to a seasonally adjusted 5.50 million units per year, the NAR said. Compared with August 2006, sales declined by 12.8 percent.
The median price for all housing types was $224,500, an increase of 0.2 percent over the year-ago median.
Single-family home sales fell 3.8 percent last month to a rate of 4.81 million units per year, 13.0 percent below the pace in August 2006. Their median price was $223,900, about the same as a year ago.
Condo and co-op sales plunged 8.0 percent last month to 690,000 units per year, 11.7 percent below their pace in August 2006. But their median price of $228,500 was 2.1 percent higher than in the same month a year ago.
“The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through,” wrote Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s senior economist, who said he had anticipated sales would decline.
“Lower sales contributed to a buildup of unsold inventory,” he added. The nation’s total housing inventory rose 0.4 percent over the month, to 4.58 million existing homes on the market at the end of August.
At the current rate of sales, that represented a 10.0-month supply, up from the nation’s 9.5-month supply of unsold homes at the end of July.
The good news is, the mortgage picture is improving, said NAR President Pat V. Combs of Grand Rapids, Mich., vice president of Coldwell Banker-AJS-Schmidt.
“Mortgage interest rates have been declining and loan availability is improving,” Combs said. “Movements to enhance the FHA loan program and to raise the limits for conventional financing could provide additional relief, and it looks like the worst of the mortgage availability problem is behind us.”
According to Freddie Mac, the NAR said, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage in August was 6.57 percent, down from 6.70 percent in July but above the 6.52 percent rate in August 2006. By last week, the 30-year rate had declined to 6.34 percent.
Yun predicted the sales level in September will be about the same as last month, but added: “Once we get through these disruptions, we’ll get a better sense of where the actual market is in late fall as conditions begin to normalize.”
In the Northeast, sales of all types of existing homes fell 2.0 percent in August to an annual rate of 1.0 million per year, down 5.7 percent from a year ago. But their median price was $282,300, an increase of 3.6 percent from August 2006.
The National Association of Realtors is the nation’s largest trade association, with more than 1.3 million members in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. Additional information is available at www.realtor.org.
