December Existing Home Sales Gain!
January 28th, 2009 Categories: Gwinnett
Existing-home sales rose unexpectedly while inventory declined, according to the National Association of Realtors® which is good news for the national and local real estate market.
Are we out of the woods yet? Probably not, but this is still good news, and boy does the real estate industry and homeowners need it.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – jumped 6.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.74 million units in December. This number compares to a downward revised pace of 4.45 million units in November.
For all of 2008, there were about 4.9 million existing-home sales — 13.1 percent below the 5.65 million transactions recorded in 2007.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home prices continue to fall significantly.
“It appears some buyers are taking advantage of much lower home prices,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist stated. “The higher monthly sales gain and falling inventory are steps in the right direction, but the market is still far from normal balanced conditions. Buyers will continue to have an edge over sellers for the foreseeable future.”
Total housing inventory at the end of December fell 11.7 percent to 3.68 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.3-month supply at the current sales pace.
Housing Stats
The national median existing-home price: (for all housing types) was $175,400 in December, which is 15.3 percent below December 2007 when the median was $207,000.
Single-family home sales: rose 7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million in December from a level of 3.98 million in November.
Currently 45 percent of sale transactions are distressed or foreclosed properties.
Single-family home sales: rose 7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.26 million in December from a level of 3.98 million in November.
Existing-Home Sales in the South rose 7.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.74 million in December, but are 11.2 percent lower than December 2007. The median price in the South was $158,600, which is down 8 percent from a year ago.
