US Existing Home sales rebound in September but overall activity remains muted - Wells Fargo

Analysts from Wells Fargo, explained the reasons why existing home sales rose 0.7% in September after three consecutive declines and they warned that existing sales fell on a year-to-year basis, marking the first drop since mid-2016. 

Key Quotes: 

“After declining three straight months, existing home sales rose 0.7 percent in September. Despite this past month’s gain, sales fell on a year-to-year basis, which captures the cumulative effect of the prior three months of declines.”

“Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma likely weighed on September’s sales. Existing home sales fell 0.9 percent the South, which was the only region seeing a decline. 

“While sales are down 1.5 percent year to year, the inventory is off even more, down 6.4 percent on the year. The sharper drop in inventories really drives home the point that home sales are being held back primarily due to the lack of homes for sale. 

“For the 67th consecutive month, prices increased year to year, rising 4.2 percent. Gains have moderated significantly, however, and are rising at their slowest year-to-year pace since June 2014.”