Existing home sales are up, new home sales are down
Recently, news about the housing market is almost everywhere.
No one knows what will happen next and everything is almost completely unpredictable.
Now that everyone has pretty much agreed on the fact that the market is indeed slowing, the next question everyone is asking is whether we will see an improvement in the future or will we see more of a slowdown before things start to pick up again.
Well, all the data coming in makes things even more confusing and difficult to predict.
The latest data shows us a variety of mixed signals about the health and vitality of our nation’s housing market.
The latest data coming in shows us both good and bad news.
As for the good news, existing home sales rose last month, according to a major trade association.
As for the bad news, new home sales have slowed.
A February 28, 2007 RISMedia.com article, “Existing Home Sales Improve in January” looks at the latest numbers coming in about our housing market. “Sales of existing homes rose in January, hitting a seven-month high, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Total sales of existing homes – including single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – rose 3.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.46 million units in January from an upwardly revised pace of 6.27 million in December. Sales were 4.3 percent below the January 2006 level of 6.75 million units.
While we are seeing improvements in exiting home sales, which is definitely good news for the market, we shouldn’t get our hopes up too much.
Things are improving here, but there are other aspects of the housing market that are still declining.
And surprisingly enough, one of the most influential figures in the housing industry notices the strange weather we’re seeing as the reason for these unpredictable numbers.
“David Lerea, NAR’s chief economist, said observers should not overreact to sales gains or other short-term effects. “While we expect existing home sales to gradually pick up this year and buyers react to the price correction, some unseasonably warm weather helped boost sales in January,” he said. “On the other hand, the winter storms that disrupted so much from the country in February, could have negatively affected the housing market.'”
Although many housing markets were essentially shut down for a while in February due to the extreme conditions, things should continue to improve soon.
Only time will tell what will happen to our market in the future.
#Existing #home #sales #home #sales