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Zillow Research

November 2022 Existing Home Sales: Sales Plummet in Stale Market

Existing home sales took a hit in November from both sides as buyers and sellers sat at a stalemate in the housing market.

  • 4.09 million existing homes were sold in November (SAAR), down 7.7% from October and down 35.4% from November 2021, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
  • Total housing inventory at the end of November amounted to 1,140,000 units, NAR said, down 6.6% from October and up 2.7% from one year ago.
  • The median existing-home price for all housing types in November was $370,700, up 3.5% from November 2021.

Apart from May 2020, this month saw the lowest level of existing home sales in 12 years. Existing home sales took a hit from both sides as buyers and sellers sat at a stalemate in the market, but sales could tick back up in the coming months as a response to decreasing mortgage rates. We’ve seen that mortgage applications have picked up in recent weeks now that there is more room in the budgets of potential buyers amid lower rates and ever so slightly lower home values, which could help to stimulate enough demand to stop sales from sliding further – for now. But available inventory will still be a confining factor in this market, and with the inventory of existing homes slipping for the fourth consecutive month, we can expect existing home sales to stay far below last year’s levels and keep tension on prices.

November 2022 Existing Home Sales: Sales Plummet in Stale Market