Housing Market Faces Reckoning: Price of Used Houses Now the Same as Price of New Houses

July 21, 2023

by Wolf Richter Wolf Street

Sales of used houses are dismal, even as supply & days on the market rise. Homeowners await inspiration. Homebuilders got the memo.

Sales of previously owned single-family houses fell by 3.4% in June from May, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of 3.72 million houses, the lowest since January, according to the National Association of Realtors today. This is deep-dismal sales territory, even as supply rose to 3.1 months, and inventories to 960,000 houses, both the highest since November.

Compared to June 2022, sales of let’s just call them “used” houses were down by 18.9%. Compared to June 2021, sales were down by 29.0% (historic data via YCharts):