“The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.”–Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., American physician, poet, professor, and author
We may not be standing in the middle of a fully recovered housing market, but we’re clearly moving in that direction. Existing Home Sales were UP 2.1% in October, staying right near their highest level in over two years. Sales are up 10.9% from a year ago. The median price is now $178,600, up 11.1% over a year ago. And the supply of existing homes dropped from 5.6 to 5.4 months. The inventory of existing homes is down to 2.14 million, the lowest level since December 2002.
Anyone who still thinks the housing market isn’t in recovery had only to look atOctober Housing Starts, which grew 3.6% to an annual rate of 894,000 units.Multi-family starts were up 11.9% and are up 57.1% versus a year ago. Single-family starts dropped 0.2% for the month, but are up 35.3% over a year ago. Building permits dropped slightly in October, but are up 26.6% for single family and up 36.3% for multi-family units versus last year. Not surprisingly, the NAHB Homebuilders confidence index rose to its highest level in six years.
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