Nationally, existing-home sales retreated in October on the heels of two strong monthly gains, according to the National Association of Realtors.

“After the number of closed homes slumped in September, October bounced back by 14 percent,” said Gary Walter, EVP of the Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors Inc.

“We dropped 12 percent behind October 2009. Year-to-date we have slipped 4 percent behind or 80 houses short of last year. The dollar volume for closed transactions in October fell 19 percent below that in October 2009. However, year-to-date total dollar volume remains up 2 percent for this year. As we entered into the fall months it is going to be interesting to see if the huge benefit of the stimulus tax credit and current closed sales will keep us on par with last year.”

October’s average selling price declined 8 percent from a year ago ($170,512 vs. $185,919) while the median price jumped 13 percent ($127,000 vs. $112,250). Year-to-date the average selling price was up 7 percent and the median price was up 10 percent. The median price is the price at which 50 percent of the homes sold were above that price and 50 percent were below.

Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, declined 2.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.43 million in October from 4.53 million in September, and are 25.9 percent below the 5.98 million-unit level in October 2009 when sales were surging prior to the initial deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit.

Year-to-date there were 4.149 million existing-home sales, down 2.9 percent from 4.272 million at this time in 2009.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $170,500 in October, down 0.9 percent from October 2009. Distressed homes accounted for 34 percent of sales in October, compared with 35 percent in September and 30 percent of sales in October 2009.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Midwest slipped 1.1 percent in October to a level of 940,000 and are 32.4 percent below the tax credit rush one year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $139,500, down 3.6 percent from October 2009.

The numbers reported for local sales include residential property in Berrien, and the western half of Van Buren and Cass counties. All three counties are included in numbers and percentages and do not reflect differences in any individual areas.

The Southwestern Michigan Association of Realtors, Inc. is a professional trade association for real estate licensees and ancillary service providers for the real estate industry in Van Buren, Berrien and Cass counties.