Over the Christmas Holidays I didn’t find any time to blog. One must have his priorities you know and shopping for the kids, eating, showing property, eating, and putting in Buyer offers on foreclosures consumed me.
While I was away from my blog a report on November Existing-home sales came out. It stated that existing-home sales rose again in November, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, and condominiums rose almost 7.5 percent from October figures, and are roughly 45 percent higher than in November 2008. This month’s sales are at the highest levels since February 2007.
“This clearly is a rush of first-time buyers not wanting to miss out on the tax credit, but there are many more potential buyers who can enter the market in the months ahead,” said a notable NAR economist. “We expect a temporary sales drop while buying activity ramps up for another surge in the spring when buyers take advantage of the expanded tax credit, which hopefully will take us into a self-sustaining market in the second half of 2010. In all, 4.4 million households are expected to claim the tax credit before it expires and balance should be restored to the housing sector with inventories continuing to decline.”
NAR President Vicki Cox Golder states,“Inventories have steadily declined and are closer to balanced levels, which indicate home prices in many areas are either stabilizing or could soon stabilize and return to normal appreciation patterns,” she said. “This means buyers still have good choices but are purchasing near the bottom of the price cycle with historically low mortgage interest rates. Throw a tax credit on top and it really doesn’t get any better for buyers with secure jobs and long-term ownership plans.”
According to NAR raw data, housing inventory at the end of November declined by roughly 1.5 percent on existing homes marketed for sale, which represents a 6.5-month housing inventory or supply, down from a 7 month supply in October. This is as low as nationwide inventory has been since April 2006 when it was at 6.1-months.
The NAR went on to state that for the second month in a row, sales have risen in all price points from a year ago. Prior to October of this year the only gains from month to month were in lower price ranges.
Distressed properties, short sales, foreclosures, REO’s, government sales, accounted for one-third of all property sales in November nationally. This heavy emphasis on discounted properties in distress has a continual downward effect that distorts median prices because they generally sell at a discount of 5 percent or more on average as compared to traditional home sales in the same area.
Overall this is more good news for housing. Remember however that real estate is local. In some areas I work I have found distressed home sales to be as low as 10 percent of all housing sales while in others I have seen figures hit 48 percent in a given month. This along with local area inventory or housing supply can have a substantial impact on Seller willingness to negotiate so these figures are good to know!
Stumble It!
Stumble It!
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