US Housing Market: New, Existing Home Sales Rise Month-Over-Month in September

New single-family home sales in the U.S. rose 14.0% on a monthly basis in September to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 800,000 units, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. On an annual basis, however, new-home sales were down by 17.6%.

Similarly, existing-home sales also increased by 7.0% from the previous month, but fell 2.3% year over year, according to the National Association of Realtors, or NAR.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noted that the improvement in supply over the last few months supported the sales hike in September, while housing demand remained strong with buyers looking to purchase a home ahead of an anticipated mortgage rate increase next year. "As mortgage forbearance programs end, and as homebuilders ramp up production – despite the supply-chain material issues – we are likely to see more homes on the market as soon as 2022," Yun added.

In September, privately owned, single-unit housing starts were unchanged from the previous month, but dropped 2.3% on a yearly basis.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index continued to rise in August, increasing 1.4% month over month after seasonal adjustment and rising 19.8% on an annual basis.

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