Thursday, February 24, 2011

Jan 2011 Home Sales Rise for 3rd Consecutive Month

According to the National Assn of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, increased 2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million in January, from a downwardly revised 5.22 million in December.  Sales were 5.3% above the 5.09 million level in January 2010. This is the first time in seven months that sales activity was higher than a year earlier.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said, “The uptrend in home sales is consistent with improvements in the economy and jobs, which are helping boost consumer confidence.  The extremely favorable housing affordability conditions are a big factor, but buyers have been constrained by unnecessarily tight credit. As a result, there are abnormally high levels of all-cash purchases, along with rising investor activity.”

Investors accounted for 23% of purchases in January, up from 20% in December and 17% in January 2010. The balance of sales were to repeat buyers. All-cash sales rose to 32% of the total in January, up from 29% in December and 2% in January 2010.  First-time buyers purchased 29% of homes, down from 33% in December and 40% in January 2010 when an extended tax credit was in place.

"Increases in all-cash transactions, the investor market share and distressed home sales all go hand-in-hand. With tight credit standards, it's not surprising to see so much activity where cash is king and investors are taking advantage of conditions to purchase undervalued homes," Yun said.  All-cash purchases are at the highest level since NAR started measuring these purchases monthly in October 2008, when they accounted for 15% of the market. The average of all-cash deals was 20% in 2009, rising to 28% last year.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $158,800 in January, down 3.7% from January 2010. Distressed homes edged up to a 37% market share in January from 36% in December; it was 38% in January 2010.

A very positive sign for the real estate market nationwide is the decrease in inventory.  Total housing inventory at the end of January fell 5.1% to 3.38 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 7.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 8.2-month supply in December. The inventory supply is at the lowest level since December 2009 when there was a 7.3-month supply.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast fell 4.6% to an annual pace of 830,000 in January from a spike in December and are 1.2% below January 2010. The median price in the Northeast was $236,500, which is 4.0% below a year ago.

Single-family home sales rose 2.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.69 million in January from 4.58 million in December, and were 4.9% higher than the 4.47 million level in January 2010. The median existing single-family home price was $159,400 in January, down 2.7%  from a year ago.

Existing condominium and co-op sales increased 4.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 670,000 in January from 640,000 in December, and are 7.9% above the 621,000-unit pace one year ago. The median existing condo price5 was $154,900 in January, which is 10.2% below January 2010.

Each community is different, so call or email me for details on home sales in your neighborhood of Hamilton, Mercer County, and surrounding New Jersey areas.

Joe Giancarli, SA
Real Estate Advisor
Short Sale Specialist
609-658-2612
jgiancarli@remax.net
http://www.joegiancarli.com/
http://www.njhomesource.com/
http://www.newjerseynewhomes.blogspot.com/
www.activerain.com/blogs/josephgiancarli

Find homes for sale using my new mobile app. Just text JOEG to 87778 and you will be sent download instructions. Once installed on your device, you will be able to do searches and see complete listing details including photos and prices. If your device is GPS enabled you will also see the listings on a map. (Data rates may apply.)

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