US existing home sales for January. 4.08 million versus 4.12 million estimate

• Prior month 4.24M annualized sales pace revised to 4.29M
• Existing home sales for January 2025 4.08M vs estimates of 4.12M.
• Existing home sales -4.9%
• Home supply 3.5 months versus 3.3 months last month

Other detals from the NAR Realtors showed:

• The median existing-home sales price advanced 4.8% from January 2024 to $396,900, the 19th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
• Cash sales 29% vs 32% last year
• First-time buyers were responsible for 28% of sales in January, down from 31% in December 2024 and identical to January 2024.
• Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 17% of homes in January, up from 16% in December and unchanged from January 2024.
• According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.85% as of February 20. That’s down from 6.87% one week ago and 6.90% one year ago.

Looking at the regional breakdown:

• Northeast: Sales down 5.7% MoM to 500K; up 4.2% YoY. Median price: $475,400 (+9.5% YoY).
• Midwest: Sales flat MoM at 1M; up 5.3% YoY. Median price: $290,400 (+7.2% YoY).
• South: Sales down 6.2% MoM to 1.83M; unchanged YoY. Median price: $356,300 (+3.5% YoY).
• West: Sales down 7.4% MoM to 750K; up 1.4% YoY. Median price: $614,200 (+7.4% YoY)

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.