More houses traded hands in October, as buyers took advantage of a growing number of properties for sale and slowly falling mortgage rates.
The number of residential sales during the month increased by 0.6% compared to the same period a year earlier, according to preliminary Homes.com data. The number of transactions, 307,760, was slightly down from September’s total, which is typical as homebuying cools in late fall. The data includes closings on sales of new and existing homes.
October marked the second consecutive month of year-to-year increases in sales. In September, they were up 7.2% over one year earlier.
Homes.com reported earlier this month that the median sales price was $385,000 in October, an increase of $5,000 from the same month in 2024, while the inventory of homes on the market increased by almost 220,000 over the same period.
"Home sales activity likely benefited from an increase in the inventory of homes available for purchase, continued but moderate growth in seasonally adjusted house prices and a slight decline in mortgage interest rates," said Homes.com chief residential economist Brad Case.
Six of the 10 metropolitan areas with the biggest increase in sales in October were in the Midwest, including Cleveland, with a 7.4% change from a year ago, and Pittsburgh, with a 6.4% increase. But a Sun Belt market, Tampa, Florida, led the list with a roughly 12% increase.
'Tampa's such a strange place now'
Tampa has experienced a decline in prices and more homes on the market in recent months, which likely gave buyers more leverage to negotiate deals.
There has been a lot of recent new home construction in eastern suburbs like Brandon, Riverview and Wesley Chapel, said Chandler Thompson, an agent with Frank Albert Realty in Tampa. He said that’s a possible contributor to the rising sales in October.
“Tampa’s such a strange place now, because you see a real influx of people wanting to move here, but a lot of other people are saying it’s too expensive and they want to leave,” he said.
Declines in sales activity were concentrated in other Sun Belt cities, such as San Antonio, which saw a drop of more than 13%, and Las Vegas, down nearly 12%.
The more affordable Midwest has also led other parts of the country in price growth in recent months. In October, the only six markets Homes.com measured that exceeded 5% price growth over the past year were in that region.
Sales of detached, single-family homes rose 1% in October from one year earlier. Deals involving condos and co-operatives also increased, by 2.5%. Sales of attached housing — including townhouses, rowhouses and duplexes — were down 5.1%.