NAR, the Realtor lobbying group, demands its easy-money heroin back that the Fed has confiscated.

The national median price of previously owned houses, condos, and co-ops fell to $394,300 in September, down by 4.7% from the peak 18 months ago, in June 2022, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) today.

June is usually the seasonal price peak of the year, but June 2023 was below the peak in June 2022 for the first time since the Housing Bust, and prices skidded lower since then.

Due to the price plunge last year in July through September, the median price was up year-over-year by 2.8%, but that was a lower rate than the 3.2% year-over-year in August (historic data via YCharts):

Price reductions jumped to 37.5% of active listings in September, blowing by the pre-pandemic highs, as sellers are getting more motivated to sell their homes while buyers have vanished at these prices (data via realtor.com):

Sales of previously owned houses, condos, and co-ops crashed to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.96 million homes in September, the lowest since the depth of the housing bust in 2010. Compared to the Septembers in prior years (historic data via YCharts):

• From 2022: -15.4% from already depressed levels
• From 2021: -35.9%.
• From 2019: -26.8%.
• From 2018: -23.6%.

The NAR demands its easy-money heroin back from the Fed.

“The Federal Reserve simply cannot keep raising interest rates in light of softening inflation and weakening job gains,” whined NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in the press release, because the NAR is a lobbying group for Realtors, and Realtors make commissions off every sale they handle, coming and going, and as sales volume plunges, their income plunges.

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