On February 21, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that the country’s existing-home sales dropped 1.3 percent in January 2020 compared to December 2019.

NAR describes its existing-home sales data as “a monthly measure of the sales volume and prices of existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops nationwide . . . Existing homes, unlike new homes, are homes that are owned and occupied before coming onto the market.”

The western region of the country dragged down national numbers for January 2020 and saw a significant decline of 9.4 percent for existing-home sales.

The Midwest and the South saw January sales increase, while the report concluded the Northeast saw “no movement.”

However, NAR said the Northeast’s existing-home sales did record “an annual rate of 730,000, which is up 7.4 percent from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $312,100, up 11.5 percent from January 2019.”

The Northeast saw the strongest price gain of the four major regions when it came to median home prices increasing.

Newtown Market

Contrary to data on the Northeast region, Newtown Board of Realtors President David Landau said Newtown did experience a recent reduction in existing-home sales last month compared to December 2019.

“The holidays slow the market down for a week or two,” Landau explained. “This affects January’s numbers.”

In December 2019 there were 38 closed sales and 18 new listings for single family homes, then 27 closed sales and 32 new listings for January 2020. Condos/townhouses went from four closed sales and zero new listings in December 2019 to five closed sales and six new listings in January 2020.

Nationwide, NAR reports, “Properties typically remained on the market for 43 days in January, seasonally up from 41 days in December, but down from 49 days in January 2019. Forty-two percent of homes sold in January 2020 were on the market for less than a month.”

Newtown had roughly double the nationwide average in December 2019 with 80 days on the market for homes and a whopping 127 days on the market in January 2020.

“Short sales and foreclosures make up less than 5 percent of the market, down from over 30 percent in 2014,” Landau said.

Short sales and foreclosures represented 2 percent of sales nationwide in January, which NAR states is unchanged from December 2019 and down from January 2019.

As for rental options in Newtown, there are currently 16 rentals ranging from $100 to $4,500 per month, making for a median rental price of $2,250 per month.

“The median single-family price for 12 months, ending in January [2020], is $380,000, down 1.3 percent from a year ago. Condos over the same period are up 1.7 percent to $345,000,” Landau said.

With lower inventory, there is an increased demand for properties, which he says makes Newtown lean toward a sellers’ market at the moment.

He added, “If the current trend continues with lower than usual inventory over the last few years, then I think we will see more seller confidence, and hopefully an increase in the median price. One thing that remains consistent in Newtown is we average 33 sales per month, so it remains to be seen how many new listings will come on for the spring market, and what affect that will have.”

It Can Turn Around

Despite the existing-home sales drop nationwide in January, NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun finds the 2020 home sales promising due to supply conditions driving price growth and current mortgage rates.

NAR reported the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage has continued to decrease from 4.47 percent last year to 3.72 percent in December 2019, then to 3.62 percent in January 2020.

Landau predicts interest rates being at, or near, historic lows will help sales in Newtown to “remain steady with a slight increase in the median price by the end of the year.”

His sentiments are echoed by NAR President Vince Malta, broker at Malta & Co, Inc, in San Francisco, Calif., who said, “We are hopeful and also confident that home sales will improve this year.”