Existing home sales tick up in September, but the US housing market stays stuck

Sales of previously occupied U.S. Homes rose in September from the previous month, but slowed compared to a year ago, the latest sign the housing market remains stalled as rising mortgage rates and home rates discourage prospective homebuyers.

Key points

• Existing home sales rose 1.5% last month from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million units, the National Association of Realtors remarked Tuesday.
• Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million.
• Sales fell 2.2% compared with September last year.

What happened

Existing home sales rose 1.5% last month from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million units, the National Association of Realtors remarked Tuesday. One of the factors in the monthly growth is that sales in August were revised lower.

Sales fell 2.2% compared with September last year. The latest sales tally is slightly above the 3.98 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home sales have been mostly hovering close to a 4-million annual pace going back to 2023, far short of the historic norm that is closer to 5.2-million. September is the second month in a row that the annual sales pace has remained below 4 million.

The bottom line

Taken together, the developments around existing home sales tick up in September, but the US housing market point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.