Exsisting Home sales jump in September

The NAR released it's October report today outlining september's housing activity.

Here are the points that I feel are worth discussing with our clients:

• 9.7% increase month over month from August to September

• September’s annualized rate of 5.57 million homes sold is the highest since July of 2007

• Total housing inventory fell to a 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace. Unsold inventory totals are 15.0 percent below a year ago.

• The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $174,900 in September, which is 8.5 percent lower than September 2008.

• Existing-home sales in the West surged 13.0 percent to an annual rate of 1.30 million in September and are 5.7 percent above a year ago. The median price in the West was $219,000, which is 15.0 percent below September 2008.

• Early information from a large annual consumer study to be released November 13, the 2009 National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, shows that first-time home buyers accounted for more than 45 percent of home sales during the past year. A separate practitioner survey shows that distressed homes accounted for 29 percent of transactions in September.

Read the entire artile here.