Sales of existing homes slowed slightly last month, but still remain above the levels of September 2010, based on recently-released data from the NAR (“Existing-Home Sales Off in September but Higher Than a Year Ago”, Oct. 20). The survey covers the entire U.S. and is preliminary.
Sales data showed a pace of 4,910,000 homes per year last month. The actual number of homes 
sold was 433,000. The SAAR is 3.0% below the same reading for August 2011, but is 11.3% above the figure for a year ago. Sales of homes in the Midwest region were down just 0.9% from last month and are up 17.2% over September 2010 on a seasonally adjusted annual basis.
The NAR estimates that there is now an 8.5 month supply of homes on the market, based on a total inventory of approximately 3.5 million homes. The total inventory of unsold homes is 2 percent lower than last year and 13 percent lower than a year before. This inventory includes homes currently listed for sale and excludes the “shadow inventory” of homes in foreclosure waiting to be put onto the market.
The attached charts show the sales on a SAAR, broken out by region, plus the estimated inventory and months supply.
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