Get ready for some rosy home-sales numbers, and get used to the idea that it still won’t be enough. Until America has more homes available for sale, the housing market will look unusually strong in what used to be the slow part of the year without satisfying pent-up demand that has been years in the making.
The National Association of Realtors on Thursday reported that 6.29 million existing, or previously owned, homes were sold in September, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. That was up from August’s 5.88 million. It counted as the best month since January, when an annualized 6.66 million homes were sold.