November Home Sales on the Rise
12/22/2011
Existing-home sales rose again last month, according to data released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
That assessment, however, is coming off of lower sales numbers than previously thought, reflecting revisions to NARs data going back to 2007. The trade group has adjusted sales and inventory figures for the last four years downward by 14.3 percent, signaling the housing crisis has run even deeper that earlier assumptions.
NARs latest monthly report shows sales of previously owned homes increased 4.0 percent to an annual rate of 4.42 million in November from 4.25 million in October, and are 12.2 percent above the 3.94 million-unit pace in November 2010.
Total housing inventory at the end of November fell 5.8 percent to 2.58 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.0-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 7.7-month supply in October.
The national median existing-home price was $164,200 in November, down 3.5 percent from a year ago.
Distressed homes foreclosures and short sales typically sold at deep discounts accounted for 29 percent of Novembers sales (19 percent were foreclosures and 10 percent were short sales), compared with 28 percent in October and 33 percent in November 2010.
Although re-benchmarking resulted in lower adjustments to several years of home sales data, NAR says the month-to-month characterization of market conditions did not change.
Lawrence Yun, NARs chief economist, says Novembers report indicates more people are taking advantage of the buyers market.
Sales reached the highest mark in 10 months and are 34 percent above the cyclical low point in mid-2010, Yun said. Weve seen healthy gains in contract activity, so it looks like more people are realizing the great opportunity that exists in todays market for buyers with long-term plans.
NAR also stressed that there were no revisions to home prices or months supply.
Source - DSNews