For the first time in nearly three years, existing home sales in Florida rose during the month of September compared to a year earlier. This follows the national trend for the month as sales across the state jumped 24 percent from September of 2007. Additionally, condo sales also increased by 11 percent from a year ago.
Existing home sales increased in September, 2008 both from August and from the same time in 2007 according to the National Association of Realtors. Single family, townhomes, condominiums and co-op sales, which are all grouped in the existing home category, rose 5.5 percent from August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.18 million units for September. That is also a 1.4 percent increase from
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for September indicating some initial signs of increased buying activity particularly for regions where median prices have declined most dramatically.It’s important to note that many of the September home sales initially went under agreement well in advance of the historic and unprecedented declines in th
As reported by CNNMoney.com: Existing home sales jump, prices sink."Sales of existing homes rose in September, according to the latest reading on the battered housing market by an industry trade group released Friday.The National Association of Realtors reported that sales by homeowners jumped 5% in September to an annual pace of 5.18 million, up from the August reading of 4.91 million.September
Yesterday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for August further confirming a continuation of the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with sales of both single family homes and condos declining nearly uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Although this continued falloff in demand is mostly as a result of
The Economic DataExisitng home sales dropped from the previous reading, although it was in the neighborhood of the forecasts. My question is this, which goes right along with the current freeze that we have in the banks willingness to make new loans.While we are in an economic slowdown, and as such new home sales would be expected to decline some, how much of the actual decline is due to the slowd
Although July US home sales rose more than expected, declines in total home sales from one year earlier and lowered home values held markets down and further proved that the housing crisis is far from over.Social Bookmarking Add to OnlywireAdd to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |
More and more seniors are utilizing reverse mortgages to pay off existing home loans, helping free up monthly cash flow to keep up with ever increasing monthly living expenses. Its not a new phenomenon but one that is far exceeding any other reason for obtaining a reverse mortgage. As the senior homeowner battles [...]
Aug 26, 2008US existing home sales up 3.1% in July NEW YORK: The pace of existing home sales in the United States rose last month to a five-million-unit annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said in a report yesterday. The report showed prices dipped while the inventory of homes hit a record high. The inventory of homes for sale rose to a record 4.67 million units or a 11.2 months' sup
Reuters - The pace of existing home sales in
the United States rose in July to a 5.00 million-unit annual
rate, the National Association of Realtors said in a report on
Monday that showed prices dipped and the inventory of homes hit
a record high.
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for July further confirming a continuation of the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with sales of both single family homes and condos declining nearly uniformly across the nation’s housing markets while inventory and supply continues to climb.Although this continued fal
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for June further confirming, perfectly clearly, a continuation of the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with sales of both single family homes and condos declining uniformly across the nation’s housing markets while inventory and supply continues to climb.Although this
The National Association of Realtors reported more horrible news for the housing market in the US. Here are the highlights:
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – fell 2.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 4.86 million units in June from a pace of 4.99 million in May, and are [...]
In todays world of electrical/electronic miracles more and more receptacles are needed all the time. Sometimes this can be a real chore. Often you can go through a wall and connect to an existing outlet.
More: continued here
Thanks to Todd Derick for this flicker photo.
I just read an article on the Blown Mortgage blog. It had a graph showing new and existing home sales. Of course in this market both are down. In fact, the Blown Mortgage blog is claiming that the volume of existing home sales is down 15% from last [...]
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for May further confirming, perfectly clearly, the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with both single family homes and condos declining uniformly across the nation’s housing markets while inventory and supply remained elevated.Although this continued falloff in demand i
Existing home sales dropped by 1% in April, sending the annualized level down to 4.89 million units from March's 4.94 million level. Markets were expecting a 1.6% drop. The monthly decline reflected...
More at: http//moneymakinglounge.blogspot.com
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for April again confirming, perfectly clearly, the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with both single family homes and condos declining uniformly across the nation’s housing markets while inventory swelled dramatically yielding a stunning 11.2 months of supply for all r
Yesterday, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their existing home sales report for the first quarter of 2008 showing, in truly stark terms, the tremendously broad nature of the housing downturn.Single family home sales, on a year-over-year basis, are now falling in every state except for Indiana, Alaska and New Jersey (see chart below and click for larger version and note that NH
According to CNBC:
Home Sales, Prices Tumble Again As Inventory Swells
of existing homes fell in March while the median home price declined, compared with the price a year ago, as a severe slump in housing showed no signs of abating.
The National Association of Realtors said that sales of existing single-family homes and condominiums dropped by 2 [...]
Existing home sales fall for seventh time in the past 8 months as housing slump continues
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sales of existing homes fell in March, the seventh drop in the past eight months, as the spring sales season got off to a rocky start.
The median price of a home was down compared with a year [...]
Existing-Home Sales Decline by WSJ - snips:Existing-home sales fell during March after making a surprising climb in February. Home resales fell to a 4.93 million annual rate, a 2.0% decrease from February's unrevised 5.03 million annual pace, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Resales fell 19% from March 2007's 6.11 million rate. The median home price was $200,700 in March, down 7.7% from $217,400 in March 2007. The median price in February this year was $195,600. Falling prices have kept would-be buyers from signing off on property as they wait for still-lower price tags... Sales fell 6.5% in the Midwest, rose 2.2% in the Northeast, rose 2.2% in the West, and fell 3.5% in the South...The Market Economist by David Rosenberg at Merrill Lynch - (Chart at Right) snip:...We e
April 22, 2008 - Existing-home sales edged down in March, remaining within a narrow range of sales activity that has persisted since last September, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – were down 2.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (1) of 4.93 million units [...]
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for March further confirming, perfectly clearly, the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with both single family homes and condos declining uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Although this continued falloff in demand is mostly occurring as a result of the momentous and ongoing structural changes taking place in the credit-mortgage markets, consumer sentiment surveys are continuing to indicate that consumers are materially feeling the current recessionary trend which will likely result in even further significant sales declines to come.Furthermore, we are now seeing solid declines to the median sales price for both single family homes and condos across v
Previous: 5.03 Million Unit Forecast: 4.92 Million UnitDefinition Existing Home Sales is a measure of the selling rate of pre-owned single family homes, collected by the National Association of Realtors from 650 realtor associations.General EffectThe report provides a measure for the level of sales of existing home sales, it's considered a good indicator of activity in the housing sector as it almost counts for 70%, as sales are highly dependant of mortgage rates and will tend to react in a few months lag to change in rates, as after a recession phase (recovery phase) in an economy sales are expected to come strong due to the gradually increasing demand which accumulated through the recession.So existing home sales is directly connected to mortgage rates and so as a result will be affected
Whether you have just purchased a home or you own an older home - does not really matter. The only thing that ultimately matter is that how you keep you home live. Well, you can update your 80’s kitchen to a new one and make your living room more attractive by home remodeling ideas.
More: [...]
NAR: Existing Home Sales Rise In February: "Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range, according to the National Association of Realtors®.Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (1) of 5.03 million units in February from a pace of 4.89 million in January, but remain 23.8 percent below the 6.60 million-unit level in February 2007. The sales pace has been in a fairly narrow range since last September.Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range, according to the National Association of Realtors®.Existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 2.9 percent to a se
The latest S&P/Case-Shiller data shows a record decline of nearly 11% for the annual period ending January 2008, with the steepest falls found in over-built Las Vegas (-19%), Miami (-19%) and Phoenix (-18%). In Southern California the declines were all far into the double digits, led by San Diego (-17%), Los Angeles (-16%) and San Francisco (-13%). From a CNNMoney.com story:The S&P Case/Shiller Home Price index of 20 key markets, released Tuesday, shows that home prices plunged 10.7% in the 12 months ending January. That marks their lowest level since the index launched in 2000. Of those 20 metro areas, 16 reported record annual declines. Ten of those cities posted double digit declines through the 12 months that ended in January. The survey's 10-city index fell 11.4% year-over-y
February Existing Home Sales Fell 23.8% by Barry Ritholtz - full article:Today's fictional headline, via The Onion, National Association of Realtors: "Sales of existing homes increased in February and remain within a fairly stable range." Why is this fictional? Changes from January to February are measuring seasonal differences, not actual improvements. January is one of the slowest months of the year for home sales. (We would never report retail sales from December to January this way; We always use year over year data). What dos that show Year over year changes showed that single family home sales were 23.8% below February 2007 levels. The national median sales price was also a big surprise, freefalling down 8.2%. Single-family home sales decreased 22.9%, while the median existing sin
CURRENCY TRADING SUMMARYU.S. Dollar Trading (USD) market closure due to Good Friday holidays ensured thin volumes of trading in light of recent volatility. All financial markets were closed on the 21st of March; ensuring stock remained unchanged from Thursday’s close. Crude oil fell slightly on Friday, in follow through from recent commodity sell offs, falling by US$0.81 a barrel to US$101.03. Trading is scheduled to resume on Monday, with data including Existing Home Sales for the month of February. Economists are forecasted that the figures will decline from 4.89 mln to 4.85 mln. The Euro (EURO) was also subject to a quiet day to market holidays, instead finding interest from Asian markets and currencies. Overall the EURUSD traded with a low of 1.5405 and a high of 1.5472 before los
Previous: 4.89 MillionForecast: 4.85 MillionDefinition Existing Home Sales is a measure of the selling rate of pre-owned single family homes, collected by the National Association of Realtors from 650 realtor associations.General Effect The report provides a measure for the level of sales of existing homes; it's considered a good indicator of activity in the housing sector as it almost counts for 70%, as sales are highly dependant of mortgage rates and will tend to react in a few months lag to change in rates, as after a recession phase (recovery phase) in an economy sales are expected to come strong due to the gradually increasing demand which accumulated through the recession.So existing home sales is directly connected to mortgage rates and so as a result will be affected by inflation
CURRENCY TRADING SUMMARYU.S. Dollar Trading (USD) was mixed versus all other majors in a light start to the week. With a majority of markets remaining closed due to Easter Monday holidays, the US returned from a long weekend in which Existing Home Sales were made public. The figures for the month of February were well above expectations, coming in at 5.03 mln (Forecast: 4.85 mln; Prior: 4.89 mln), the strongest release in seven months. In other news, the much publicized buy out of Bear Stearns gained in momentum yesterday, with reports that JP Morgan were looking to upgrade their bid to $10 a share. In U.S. share markets the NASDAQ was up 142.05 points (+1.63%) whilst the Dow Jones also rallied by 187.32 points (+1.52%). Crude oil fell by US$0.98 a barrel to US$100.86 on extended commodity
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for February again confirming, perfectly clearly, the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with both single family homes and condos declining uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Although this continued and even worsening falloff in demand is mostly as a result of the momentous and ongoing structural changes that are taking place in the credit-mortgage markets, consumer sentiment surveys are now indicating that consumers are materially feeling the current recessionary trend which will likely result in even further significant sales declines to come.Furthermore, we are now seeing solid declines to the median sales price for both single family homes and cond
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for January again confirming, perfectly clearly, the tremendous weakness in the demand of existing residential real estate with both single family homes and condos declining uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Although this continued and even worsening falloff in demand is mostly as a result of the momentous and ongoing structural changes that are taking place in the credit-mortgage markets, consumer sentiment surveys are now indicating that consumers are materially feeling the current recessionary trend which will likely result in even further significant sales declines to come.Furthermore, we are now seeing solid declines to the median sales price for both single family homes and condo
Disruptions in the mortgage market and tightening credit continued to impact Florida's housing sector in October. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 9,165 last month while 12,846 homes sold in October 2006 for a decrease of 29 percent in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).While the latest market outlook from the National Association of Realtors'® (NAR) expects conditions for the mortgage industry to improve in the coming months, it predicts that the impact of the credit crunch will continue to be felt through the end of this year, leaving home sales fairly flat. Keeping the current housing market in perspective, 2007 will be the fifth highest year on record for existing-home sales, according to NAR Senior Economist Lawrence Yun. "It appears raw inventories are stabilizing, but the housing supply is a bit inflated now because the sales pace does not reflect underlying market conditions - sales were dampene
The National Association of Realtors released the October existing home sales numbers and no surprise, the numbers are bad, very bad. But you couldn’t tell that but reading the spin from the Realtors in this news release.
The headline from the Realtors is “Mixed Results For October Existing-Home Sales; Mortgages Improving”. Oh really?
What mixed results are you talking about?. They say: “Single-family existing-home sales were stable in October while the condo sector was down”. Sales were stable from what? From last month? Yes. From a year ago? Not at all. Existing home sales were down 20.7% from a year ago. What is stable about that? Of course, I know that the Realtors are referring to the fact that existing single family home sales were unchanged from last month. Well, you can’t measure this market month to month, specially if there is not that much change. I better measure is comparing it to a year ago and if we look at that, down 20.7% is a horrib
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for October again confirming, perfectly clearly, that demand for residential real estate, for both single family and condos, has now taken a new and substantial leg down uniformly across the nation’s housing markets likely as a direct result of the momentous and ongoing structural changes in the credit-mortgage markets.Terming the latest home sales results as “stable”, NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun steps up his preposterous attempts to persuade readers that, although the changes in the mortgage market have been significant and are having an impact on sales, this is merely a temporary situation.“As noted last month, temporary mortgage problems were peaking back in August when many of the sales closed in October were being negotiated. We continue to see the biggest impact in high-cost markets that rely on jumbo loans, … Mortgage availability has improved as evidenced by much lower m
This week the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their existing home sales report for the third quarter of 2007 showing, in truly stark terms, the tremendously broad nature of the housing downturn.Single family home sales, on a year-over-year basis, are now falling in every state except for Vermont and North Dakota (see chart below and click for larger version and note that NH and Idaho don’t report sales data) and even those states sales growth are anemic.Amazingly, even given the obvious completeness of the housing downturn shown by their own data, the NAR’s newly appointed president, Richard Gaylord, blatantly continues the tradition of shameless self interested spin established by his predecessors.“There is no such thing as a national housing market – it doesn’t perform like the equities markets, … What’s really important for consumers is to make informed decisions based on individual needs, desires and timelines in a given area. Most people plan to stay
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for September showing, perfectly clearly, that demand for residential real estate has now taken a new leg down uniformly across the nation’s housing markets likely as a direct result of the significant structural changes that have taken place in the credit-mortgage markets.Within the release, Senior Economist Lawrence Yun now attempts to persuade readers that, although the changes in the mortgage market have been significant and are having an impact on sales, this is merely a temporary situation that is likely to resolve shortly.“The good news is that mortgage availability has markedly improved in recent weeks with interest rates on jumbo loans falling, and more people are applying for safer and conforming FHA mortgage products. Some of the cancelled transactions will move forward as buyers apply for other loans.”Additionally, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs continues her absurd attemp
Low mortgage rates, low unemployment rates and strong demographics continued to reflect positive economic signs in Florida in August. Statewide, sales of existing single-family homes totaled 11,279 last month and were closer to activity in August 2001 and 2002 – before the peak of the housing boom years – than the August 2006 figures, when 15,252 homes sold for a 26 percent decrease in the year-to-year comparison, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR).Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes last month was $231,900; a year ago, it was $246,800 for a 6 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In August 2002, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $141,200, for an increase of 64.2 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.In July 2007, the national median sales price for existing single-family homes was $228,600, down 1 percent from the previous year, ac
Existing home sales dropped for the sixth straight month. This is the slowest pace since 2002. In the article, Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, predicted "worse to come thanks to tighter credit conditions."I talked with a family member yesterday that is contemplating selling her home and she sadly stated that she probably could not sell it for what it was originally bought for. Frankly I do not see the housing market improving anytime in the near future.
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for August showing that demand for residential real estate is now taking a new leg down uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Senior Economist Lawrence Yun is now left to simply state to obvious for risk of looking completely uniformed and off base.“The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through, … Lower sales contributed to a buildup of unsold inventory.”Additionally, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs make a truly absurd attempt to spur on buyer activity by spinning the bad news and even calls a bottom to the mortgage turmoil.“Mortgage interest rates have been declining and loan availability is improving… Movements to enhance the FHA loan program and to raise the limits f
Yesterday the greenback continued on its bearish path against most of the majors and it slipped to another new record low versus the EUR. The fears that the subprime crisis will spill over into the broader economy and actually begin to slowdown growth rekindled expectations that the Fed will further slash its 4.75 % key benchmark rate. An additional rate cut by the Fed could have a significant negative impact on the greenback as it will reduce the dollars appeal against the high yielding currencies and therefore it will lower the level of foreign investment coming into the US. In the last few weeks the greenback weakened the most against the EUR and this is mainly due to the widening growth differential and the shrinking interest rate differential between the US and the European economy. The current market expectation is that will we see another rate cut by the Fed in the near future and this is putting the dollar under major pressure. However a weak dollar combined with rising oil pri
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for July showing that the fall-off in demand for residential real estate is continuing and occurring uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Senior Economist Lawrence Yun is now suggesting that the weakness, if it were not for the mortgage-credit meltdown, home sales would “probably” be rising.“Home sales probably would be rising in the absence of the mortgage liquidity issues of the past two months, … Some buyers with contracts have been scrambling when loan commitments did not materialize at the last moment, while other potential buyers are simply waiting for the mortgage market to stabilize.”Additionally, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs continues to attempt to persuade potential buyers to ignore the obvious dramatic housing correction.“For buyers able to qualify for conventional financing, there are ample opportunities in the current market, … Availability and pricing
Play Video
Existing Home Sales Slump: Regulators to Testify on Capitol Hill
Bloomberg-Clip - (BLOOM-Clip)
Jul. 25, 2007. 12:00 PM EST
NAHB’s David Seiders Says Surveyed Builders Still See Serious Downward Impact on Sales and Upward Impact on Cancellations, Thinks Market Corrections are Working
Median Existing Home Price Up 0.3% $230,100 - 1st price increase in 11 months
Inventory Down
Existing Home Sales Fell 3.8% to 5.75 Million Units as an Annualized Rate
Sales by region
West Down 6.8%
Northeast Down 7.3%
South Down 1.7%
Midwest Down 2.8%
Existing Homes Sales Fall To 5-Year Low
CNBC
Jul. 25, 2007. 10:05 AM EST
Interestingly sales fall but inventory is down and prices are up.
Federal Reserve, housing market, Housing videos, National Association of Home Builders
---Related Articles at Consumer Mortgage Reports:Subprime Implosion And Now Rising Prime Mortgage RatesBen Bernanke Expected To Express Ongoing Inflation ConcernsFederal
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for June showing that an increasing fall-off in demand for residential real estate is occurring uniformly across the nation’s housing markets.Senior Economist Lawrence Yun is now suggesting that the weakness is mostly as a result of the increasing interest rates, tightening lending standards and home buyers getting mixed signals about the state of the market.“Home buyers have been getting mixed signals about the housing market, which is causing some of them to hesitate, … Mortgage interest rates have risen recently, and tightening lending standards are continuing to hamper sales, but fewer risky loans will put the market on a healthier path. Although general buying conditions remain favorable for long-term home buyers, it appears some buyers are looking for more signs of stability before they have enough confidence to make an offer.”Additionally, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs conti
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for May showing worsening and uniform weakness to the nations housing markets.Senior Economist Lawrence Yun is now suggesting that the decline is mostly as a result of the psychology of buyers but interestingly, and somewhat atypically, offers a more fundamental reason for the lack of demand, namely dramatically decreased household formation.“I think psychological factors are currently the biggest drag on the housing market, in addition to a disruption from tighter credit for subprime borrowers, … Household formation has slowed dramatically since late 2006, implying that many people are doubling-up – they’re adding roommates or moving in with parents.“The market is underperforming when you consider positive fundamentals such as the strength in job creation, economic growth, favorable mortgage interest rates and flat home prices. It appears some buyers are simply waiting for more signs
Here’s a bit of jolly encouragement: Existing home sales in the Tampa Bay Area fell 35% from April of two years ago. Also on the good news front, median home prices continue to plunge. The NAR predicts that prices will begin to rise again in the second half of this year, and that homeowners can expect moderate gains in a normalizing market for the next several years.
Change of Strategy: If you’re on of the folks who’s been using their home as an ATM for the last few years, you’re probably in the hurt seat right about now. A word of advice for the future: Either buy a property for 70 cents on the dollar somehow, or plan to hold your home for several years before you make enough money to sell it for a profit. This advice is typical of a normal market. The rapidly appreciating market of the last few years has been anything but normal, and you may never see another period of similar growth in your natural life time. FY
Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for March showing continued and uniform weakness of the nations housing markets.Without missing a beat, the new “fill-in” Senior Economist Lawrence Yun continues to suggest that the weakness is indicating stabilization.“We’ve been anticipating slower home sales because many subprime loan products are no longer available … In addition, increased scrutiny by lenders is stopping risky mortgage origination, which is good for both consumers and the lending community. Fortunately, a wide availability of conventional mortgage products and the 4.5 million jobs created over the past 24 months will help to stabilize the market going forward.”Additionally, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs continues to attempt to scare buyers into action with the threat of increased interest rates.“Long-term financing remains favorable, but interest rates are rising … Although some buyers have a wait-and-s
Lot of news to absorb today. The utopian Bulls must be shitn' bricks. Here are the main points, with additional articles to support. A heads-up to new NYCbubble readers, I post M-F shortly after 7pm to cover the whole day of reports, and weekend posts happen at no specific hour.Bob Toll on housing: How Derivatives Caused the Property Boom by Felix Salmon at Conde'Nast Portfolio Mag 4/23/07 - snip:Sitting on the property panel with Bob Toll was Steven Green, of Greenstreet Partners. He had a very good explanation for the run-up in US property values in recent years: financial derivatives. "People always told you that there was no liquidity in real estate," said Green. "And now the financial derivatives market has created that liquidity, and it's changed the market permanently." As a result, there has been a huge inflow of institutional money, both public and private, into a market which has historically been dominated by individuals and families. Whenever that happens, there's a
Sales of existing homes in Florida remained at a sustainable pace in March, with buyers continuing to see favorable mortgage rates and a range of housing options available across the state, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 13,469 last month compared to 18,751 homes sold in March 2006 for a 28 percent decrease.Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes in March was $236,000; a year ago, it was $244,600 for a 4 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In March 2002, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $134,100, for an increase of 75.9 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.In February 2007, the national median sales price for existing single-family homes was $211,100, down 1.5 percent from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewi
Not so fast Real Estate-Wall Street Bulls.Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for March showing the LARGEST MONTHLY DROP IN HOME SALES SINCE JANUARY 1989.Of course, NAR Chief Economist David Lereah continues to attempt to blame winter weather conditions as well as fallout from the subprime meltdown for the current drop in sales.“For the last couple months we’ve been expecting a weather ‘hit’ on home sales finalized in March, … We also may be seeing some losses as a result of the subprime fallout. … It’s too early to measure a significant impact from tighter lending standards, which should moderately dampen activity, but we’re still looking for existing-home sales to gradually improve during the last half of 2007”Additionally, NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs continues to attempt to goad unknowing home buyers into making their purchase at the top of a dramatically deflating market.“It’s a good time to buy,
Sales of existing homes in Florida remained at a sustainable pace in March, with buyers continuing to see favorable mortgage rates and a range of housing options available across the state, according to the Florida Association of Realtors® (FAR). Statewide, sales of single-family existing homes totaled 13,469 last month compared to 18,751 homes sold in March 2006 for a 28 percent decrease.Florida’s median sales price for existing single-family homes in March was $236,000; a year ago, it was $244,600 for a 4 percent decrease. The median is the midpoint; half the homes sold for more, half for less. In March 2002, the statewide median sales price for single-family homes was $134,100, for an increase of 75.9 percent over the five-year-period, according to FAR records.In February 2007, the national median sales price for existing single-family homes was $211,100, down 1.5 percent from the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). In California, the statewi
In the present housing market environment the Existing Home Sales figures released this morning are very suspect. The importance of seller-motivation is entirely ignored in these numbers. I read the methodology section of the NAR web-site. While it sounds straightforward on their site I have to assume that the NAR methodology can and probably has changed due to market conditions.
My guess is that they include short sales and trustee sales (foreclosures) as part of their overall figures. Short sales, which have not occurred in the US for nearly ten years, need to be split-out as they are not a ‘normal market environment’ transaction. Trustee sales (foreclosures wherein a Trustee’s Deed is recorded - i.e. the lender takes the property back) are not arms-length transactions. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the NAR may be including these numbers as legitimate existing home sales - which is not a valid inclusion. Trustee sales are nothing more than a transfe
In the present housing market environment the Existing Home Sales figures released this morning are very suspect. The importance of seller-motivation is entirely ignored in these numbers. I read the methodology section of the NAR web-site. While it sounds straightforward on their site I have to assume that the NAR methodology can and probably has [...]
Yet again, the Bulls on Wall Street and CNBC waxed wildly optimistic with the initial “top-line” numbers of a report before delving into the details thoroughly enough to realize that they had gotten ahead of themselves.Looking more closely at February’s Existing Home Sales report should only result in additional confirmation that the nation’s housing markets are continuing to experience weakness with the majority of regions showing considerable declines to median price and sales as well as all regions showing significant increases to inventory and monthly supply.In an attempt to squeeze as much press out of the top-line 3.9% increase to sales nationally from January, David Lereah, Chief Economist of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), expresses some surprise but is still cautiously pointing the finger at the weather for the other weaker numbers:“Some of the rise in home sales may be from mild weather that brought out shoppers in December, but fundamentals have improve
Today, the National Association of Realtors released its monthly “Existing Home Sales” report for January along with some guarded optimism.As David Lereah puts it:“Although we’re expecting existing-home sales to gradually rise this year, and buyers are responding to the price correction, some unusually warm weather helped boost sales in January”“We shouldn’t be surprised to see a near-term sales dip, but that will be followed by a continuing recovery in home sales.”Looking at the data it does appear that sales in the Northeast have been fairly strong with some solid increases on a year-over-year basis to both single family homes and condos but given that this winter season has been exceptionally mild, that result is not very surprising.Another key factor in the Northeast regions up-tick in sales seems to be some significant downward price movement.In fact, for single family homes, prices have declined year-over-year in every region especially the West.It will be interes
