6.85 Million Homes Changed Hands in October

• November 19th 2020

by Nena Perry-Brown

The latest data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) illustrates a nationwide housing market that is only continuing to gain steam.

In October, 6.85 million existing homes sold, a 26.6% increase from October 2019. These sales numbers were also 4.3% higher than those in September, the fifth consecutive month with a month-over-month increase.

The numbers were coupled with an increase in home prices, with the median price for all existing homes sold standing at $313,000 in October, a 15.5% increase year-over-year. This also makes October the 104th consecutive month where the median price rose year-over-year. 

DC wasn't alone in seeing huge price increases among single-family homes last month: prices for this housing type rose in each of the 181 metro areas NAR studies, and in 65% of those metro areas, prices went up by at least 10% or more. Nationwide, the median price for a single-family home rose to $317,700 in October, a 16% increase from October 2019.

"Considering that we remain in a period of stubbornly high unemployment relative to pre-pandemic levels, the housing sector has performed remarkably well this year," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in a statement. "With news that a COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available, and with mortgage rates projected to hover around 3% in 2021, I expect the market's growth to continue into 2021." 

Photo courtesy of Ted Eytan.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/685-million-homes-changed-hands-nationwide-in-october/17559.