
Existing home sales
In a separate report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday, the housing market showed further strain with August sales of existing homes dropping by 0.7%. The decline marked the fifth drop in six months for existing home sales as mortgage rates have surged to a multidecade high. Read more of RSM’s insights on the economy and the middle market. The impact of high mortgage rates also showed up through the 4.8% increase in condominium and co-op sales, a more affordable segment for buyers than single-family homes, which fell by 1.4%. Sales of condominiums and co-ops have been relatively stable since May. The supply of existing homes was unchanged at 3.3 months. While that was low compared to a range of four to five months of supply before the pandemic, the 3.3 month figure is still below the levels of 2021, when the supply fell below two months. Listings stayed 20 days on the market before getting sold, higher than a year ago when it was only 16 days.