by Calculated Risk on 9/19/2012 10:00:00 AM
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Existing Home Sales in August: 4.82 million SAAR, 6.1 months of supply
The NAR reports: August Existing-Home Sales and Prices Rise
Total existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, rose 7.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million in August from 4.47 million in July, and are 9.3 percent higher than the 4.41 million-unit level in August 2011.
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Total housing inventory at the end August rose 2.9 percent to 2.47 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6.1-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 6.4-month supply in July. Listed inventory is 18.2 percent below a year ago when there was an 8.2-month supply.
![Existing Home Sales](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfT004i_d3_6Z2fNHa-tcRV2r3JR4DP8cPKDXm8-EswdzHBlVDtTh9V2zVI4sis9Mx1QYG6Bpu1Jh_oqZA9GC2gIqzwupcZPUjyprJ6LXZxCTe2FL7KGrXQKm7mJ58ErGR83NT/s320/EHSAug2012.jpg)
This graph shows existing home sales, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis since 1993.
Sales in August 2012 (4.82 million SAAR) were 7.8% higher than last month, and were 9.3% above the August 2011 rate.
The second graph shows nationwide inventory for existing homes.
![Existing Home Inventory](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ7AhBb1VpuNzLPyaltfsd_XhMlNR-oBcf3LIRhvqeou0P73mE6zbGmuUZ6mA0ob5eK8QYpEwvB0mHDFqbT6ETO624Z70Ewp8Ko0vOd1sQjEZv_P6QmhQ1eywr6fJpUARMR-4X/s320/EHSInvAug2012.jpg)
The last graph shows the year-over-year (YoY) change in reported existing home inventory and months-of-supply. Since inventory is not seasonally adjusted, it really helps to look at the YoY change. Note: Months-of-supply is based on the seasonally adjusted sales and not seasonally adjusted inventory.
![Year-over-year Inventory](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt0ZtRGLKXtprC6rJr0ZB3l9eYTnWpa1bMiw5YFImAdscN5cjpau3OVFixmRT1QeEmo9L0V8dQ7L9aASAGwEF-HDq56OBeoIeT28KWT9bQPTUYtrbozd8MCJpb-J0NLZRKghNo/s320/EHSInvYoYAug2012.jpg)
Months of supply declined to 6.1 months in August.
This was above expectations of sales of 4.55 million. For existing home sales, the key number is inventory - and the sharp year-over-year decline in inventory is a positive for housing. I'll have more later ...