With new home inventory lagging, buyers are turning to older stock. According to the National Association of Realtors, existing-home sales increased 3.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.69 million in January.
The sales pace is 3.8 percent better than last year, and the seasonally adjusted annual rate is the highest since February 2007. Existing-home sales include transactions involving single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops.
Additionally, the median existing-home price increased to $228,900 in January, a 7.1 percent increase from January 2016.
Total housing inventory at the end of January rose 2.4 percent to 1.69 million existing homes available for sale, but is still 7.1 percent lower than a year ago (1.82 million) and has fallen year-over-year for 20 straight months. Unsold inventory is at a 3.6-month supply at the current sales pace (unchanged from December 2016).
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