The sales of existing homes rose across the nation during the month of August to the highest level
seen in the last five months. According to data released by the National Association of Realtors on
Wednesday, September 21, the sales of existing homes increased by 7.7% when compared to the
previous month. That puts the seasonally adjusted annual rate at 5.03 million units.
The existing new home sales data was better than the forecast expected, but data in other areas of the
housing market shows that we are far from recovery. According to new home construction figures
released by the government earlier in September, new home construction fell by 5% during the month
of August. Just another sign that we are still in the wake of the nastiest housing bust the nation has seen
in decades.
The sale of existing homes during 2010 was the worst sales data for existing homes seen since 1997.
Existing home sales for 2011 are not expected to be much higher. According to the Realtors group,
forecasts for this year’s existing home sales are around 4.92 million, a slight increase from the 4.91
million sold in 2010.
At the moment, cheap houses are the ones selling. Home prices are expected to plunge another 2.5% before the end of 2011 and then begin a gradual year over rise of 1.1% until the year 2015, according to a survey done by MacroMarkets LLC. Currently, home prices dropped when compared to the previous year by 5.1%. The median sales price during the month of August was $168,300 when last year’s median sale price for the month of August was $177,300.
The inventory of previously owned homes on the market is still not at healthy levels. For the month of
August, the inventory of previously owned homes was at 3.58 million units, which would put the nation at 8.5 months of supply according to the current sales pace. A healthy supply is considered to be 6 months.
Posted in Home Sales