It came as no surprise this morning to read that the housing market (specifically resales of existing homes, not new construction) has reached the lowest level in more than a decade. Inventory has reached twelve months. Apparently this is all seasonally adjusted, whatever that means, but it puts the pain graphically on the shoulders of people who'd really, really like to sell- the owners of single family homes. From the National Association of Realtors:
Sales are at the lowest level since the total existing-home sales series launched in 1999, and single family sales – accounting for the bulk of transactions – are at the lowest level since May of 1995.To quote the NAR's irrepressibly optimistic economist Laurence Yung on consumer confidence:
?a pause period for home sales is likely to last through September,” he said. “However, given the rock-bottom mortgage interest rates and historically high housing affordability conditions, the pace of a sales recovery could pick up quickly, provided the economy consistently adds jobs."The NAR also reports that the median price of homes has gone up 0.7%. Which is cheering, of course, except they also report distressed sales as "unchanged" in the same sentence as having that number go up 1%. Through the NAR's upbeat smokescreen, one can only wonder at how tough it must be to be a Realtor these days, and what effect all this will have on the NAR's political contributions.
· Home Sales at Lowest Level in More Than a Decade [NYTimes]
· REALTORS® Political Action Committee [NAR]
Loading comments...