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Higher mortgage rates keep home sales stuck around year-to-date lows
Yahoo Finance • • business
Key Points:
- Existing U.S. home sales increased by 1.5% in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.99 million, though sales remain near their lowest levels of the year and are down 2.2% compared to last year.
- Despite rising mortgage rates, which climbed from below 7% to around 7.5% during September, sales data mainly reflect contracts made in August when rates were lower.
- The housing market shows increased inventory, with 1.6 million homes for sale in September—the highest since November 2019—giving buyers more negotiating power.
- Homes are spending more time on the market as buyers remain cautious amid the challenging environment of rising mortgage rates, according to NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
