Big Rebound in Existing-Home Sales
Daily Real Estate News, October 23, 2009 NAR, Realtor Magazine
Existing-home sales bounced back strongly in September with first-time buyers driving much of the activity, marking five gains in the past six months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
Existing-home sales-including single-family, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops-jumped 9.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units in September from a level of 5.10 million in August, and are 9.2 percent higher than the 5.10 million-unit pace in September 2008. Sales activity is at the highest level in more than two years, since it hit 5.73 million in July 2007.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said favorable conditions matched with a tax credit are boosting home sales. "Much of the momentum is from people responding to the first-time buyer tax credit, which is freeing many sellers to make a trade and buy another home," he said. "We are hopeful the tax credit will be extended and possibly expanded to more buyers, at least through the middle of next year, because the rising sales momentum needs to continue for a few additional quarters until we reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery."
Inventory Falls
Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 7.5 percent to 3.63 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 7.8-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 9.3-month supply in August. Unsold inventory totals are 15.0 percent below a year ago.
"The current housing supply is the lowest we've seen in two and a half years," Yun said. "If we could continue to absorb inventory at this pace, home prices would return to normal, modest appreciation patterns next year."
Source: National Association of Realtors, Daily Real Estate News, Realtor Magazine
To read more about the current housing market, read the rest of this great article by clicking on the link below.
http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009102301?OpenDocument
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