Parts of the housing market are slowly waking up, and some lucky buyers are emerging victorious. Sales of existing homes rose for the third month in a row in November, as some buyers came back to the market. ...

Core Insights - Sales of newly constructed homes increased significantly, reaching an annual rate of 800,000 in August, marking a 20% rise from July's rate of 664,000, the fastest pace since early 2022 [2][7] - The surge in new home sales is attributed to builder incentives aimed at reducing housing costs and a decline in mortgage rates, which have dropped approximately 0.75 percentage points from around 7% in January [4][5][7] - The housing market is showing signs of recovery, with a notable increase in new home sales, while existing home sales have slightly declined due to high prices [3][8] Sales Performance - Newly constructed homes are now more popular than existing homes, driven by builder incentives and a larger inventory, with a 7.4 month supply of new homes compared to a 4.6 month supply for existing homes [5][9] - In August, 66% of builders offered special incentives, the highest since the post-COVID era, including mortgage rate buy-downs and reduced closing costs [5] - Existing home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4 million in August, with a median sale price of $422,600, compared to $413,500 for new homes [8] Market Outlook - Economists suggest that the recent decline in mortgage rates could lead to further improvements in home sales in September if the trend continues [10] - There is a significant number of potential buyers waiting for more favorable conditions, indicating a possible shift in the housing market dynamics [3]

Core Insights - Sales of previously owned homes were flat in August, totaling 4 million units on a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, reflecting a 0.2% decrease from July but a 1.8% increase from August of the previous year [1] - The upper end of the housing market is performing better than the lower end, with homes priced above $1 million seeing an 8% year-over-year increase, while homes priced below $100,000 experienced a decline of over 10% [2] - The Midwest region outperformed others in August, benefiting from affordable market conditions, with median home prices in the Midwest being 22% below the national median [3] Sales Performance - August sales of previously owned homes were stable at 4 million units, marking a slight decrease from July and a year-over-year increase [1] - The Midwest region showed the strongest sales performance, while the Northeast was the weakest [1][3] Market Trends - The upper end of the market is thriving due to record-high housing wealth and stock market performance, enabling current homeowners to trade up [2][3] - The lack of inventory is constraining sales of affordable homes, impacting the lower end of the market [3]