US existing home sales fall for a twelfth month in a row in January

Home selling activity in the US slowed for a twelfth straight month at the start of 2023.

According to the National Association of Realtors, in seasonally adjusted terms, existing-home sales fell by 0.7% month-on-month during January to reach an annual rate of 4.0m (consensus: 4.1m).

“Home sales are bottoming out,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

“Prices vary depending on a market’s affordability, with lower-priced regions witnessing modest growth and more expensive regions experiencing declines.”

In comparison to one year before, existing-home sales were down by 36.9%, while prices were up by 1.3% at $359,000.

Properties typically remained on the market for 33 days in January, against 26 days in December and 19 days in the year earlier month, the business lobby group said.

However, 54% of homes sold in January remained on the market for under one month.

The inventory of unsold homes meanwhile increased by 2.1% over the month to reach 980,000 homes which was the equivalent of 2.9 months worth of supply.

The latter was unchanged from the month before.