I don't care if those Max Hedroom talking heads on the "Nightmare News Cable" Channels won't say it, I'm telling everybody in case you didn't know... The National Association of Realtors posted the latest numbers that said... Existing homes sales shot up 12.3% in December, coming in well above most estimates from 4.55 - 5.04 million and giving the US economy that needed growth spurt in the last six months of the year ending 2010.
No, I'm not saying break out the champagne, this is still a pretty long road trip, so I hope you packed a lunch. The current inventory of existing homes was reportedly 3.56 million, which is an 8.1-month supply and down 4.2% from November when inventory represented a 9.5-month supply. These are the National numbers. We were sitting here in the Florida Panhandle at one point with a 3-6 year inventory of residential properties! Good thing we don't have any really tall office type buildings around here, Realtors would have been jumping off the roofs! Today we are more in line with the National numbers of about 8-9 months. The past six months are evidence of more positive signs that the recovery is likely to continue as job growth gains momentum averaging about 100,000 jobs monthly. And with rising jobs come rising rents and rising rents encourage more renters to decide on home ownership while affordability remains. In late December, Freddie Mac said the average rate for a 30-year mortgage in 2010 was the lowest since 1955 at 4.7%.
NAR said all-"cash sales" have remained consistently high at nearly 30% of the overall market for the past 6 months, and are up 22% higher than a year ago in 2009. Even existing condo and co-op sales increase 16.4% from November pace, according to NAR.
After attending the 2011 Economic Forecast this week, I came away with high unemployment, and cable news induced fears will be a continuing factor in 2o11. But, the economy of real estate is local in nature and has always been, and has seen the peaks and valleys every 20 years. Even with our Gulf Coast area getting the double whammy of Economy + Oil Spill, we still saw a 3% economic growth. So the sky will still be blue tomorrow and the sun will still shine and upward progress will be gradual, but the operative word is Progress!
And for those who don't know who Max Hedroom is, of course I found him on youtube for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzxHDqUz8Sk
When you are ready to enjoy something that looks like this, instead of the cold white stuff at your house, contact me. We have properties on Sale!
Karen Butler, REALTOR Karen@KarenButler.com Eglin-HurlburtRealtor.com 850-830-8780
Coldwell Banker United Realtors, FWB, Fl 20 Years - USAF Military Veteran Military Specialist 1st Time Home Buyer Counselor Contract Negotiation Specialist, CNS Trusted Community Advisor Senior Real Estate Specialist, SRES
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