U.S. pre-owned home sales totaled 5.03 million transactions last year, the fewest since 2014, which is a 17.8% drop from the 2021 figure, the highest annual plunge since 2008, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
For the month of December, sales reached an annualized 4.02 million, the lowest since November 2010, down 1.5% from November 2022 and 34% from the same month in 2021.
Thus, the volume of used home transactions accumulates eleven consecutive months down, the longest series of declines since the beginning of data collection in 1999.
Likewise, the total inventory of used homes recorded at the end of December was 970,000 units, 13.4% less than in November, but 10.2% more than a year ago.
Properties generally remained on the market for 26 days in December, up from 24 days in November and 19 days in December 2021. Fifty-seven percent of homes sold in December 2022 were on the market less than one month.
«December was another difficult month for buyers, who continue to face limited inventory and high mortgage rates,» said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, for whom an early recovery in sales can be expected after mortgage rates have declined markedly after peaking in late 2022.
By contrast, the median sales price of a pre-owned home stood at $366,900 (€339,320) in December, up 2.3% since December 2021 and increasing the string of year-over-year increases to 130 consecutive months, the longest streak on record.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
