Existing Home Sales

Previous: 6.48M

Forecast: 6.44M

Existing home sales measures the change in the annulized number of existing residential buildings that were sold. This is a key indicator of the strength of the housing market. Higher than expected existing home sales is bullish, while lower than expected existing home sales is bearish.

Existing home sales in the US which include completed transactions of single-family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 6.7% mom to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.5 million in January 2022, rebounding from a downwardly revised 3.8% fall in December. It is the highest level in a year, beating forecasts of 6.1 million. Total housing inventory fell to a new all-time low of 860K units and the median price for all housing types was $350,300. ""Buyers were likely anticipating further rate increases and locking-in at the low rates, and investors added to overall demand with all-cash offers. Consequently, housing prices continue to move solidly higher. There are more listings at the upper end – homes priced above $500,000 – compared to a year ago, which should lead to less hurried decisions by some buyers. Clearly, more supply is needed at the lower-end of the market in order to achieve more equitable distribution of housing wealth", said Yun, NAR's chief economist. source: National Association of Realtors