In October, existing-home sales in the U.S. experienced a 1.7% increase over the same month the previous year, leading to the strongest month for home resales since February, as shown by data from the National Association of Realtors. This represents the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year increases in home resales.
Attractive borrowing costs, with October's average mortgage rates at 6.25%, lower than October 2024's 6.43%, could provide a possible explanation for the increase. Another factor may have been a steady inventory, as the national supply of homes in October stood at 4.4 months, slightly higher than the previous year, even with a minor decrease from September.
The recent government shutdown appears not to have affected homebuyers significantly. Earlier, experts had expressed concern that possible obstacles such as issues with mortgage approvals, income verification, federal flood insurance or rural homebuyer programs could slow purchases.
“Existing home sales increased once more in October, unperturbed by the government shutdown or ongoing economic concerns about further layoffs," commented Heather Long, Chief Economist at Navy Federal Credit Union. "Lower mortgage rates and a larger choice of homes for sale are proving to be incentives for potential buyers who now face less competition and more options at lower rates."
However, with persistent high costs preventing many potential buyers from taking action, sales remained close to their lowest in over a decade.
Daniel Vielhaber, an economist at Nationwide, observed, "High mortgage rates coupled with a stagnation in existing home listings are restricting both supply and demand aspects of the market. It's anticipated that the existing housing market will continue to struggle in the months ahead. Improving, yet still unfavorable housing affordability, is likely to leave many potential buyers on the sidelines into 2026."
October's median house price rose 2.1% from October 2024, reaching $415,200, according to NAR data. This marks two years and four months of consecutive year-over-year house price increases.