Lisa Mentons Blog

Existing Home Sales - March Report
Last Updated:

3/1/2011

Home Sales Pace

Sales of existing U.S. homes moved upward again in January, making a three month streak, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Sales rose 2.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.36 million units, from a downwardly revised 5.22 million in December, and up 5.3 percent over the year before.

"The uptrend in home sales is consistent with improvements in the economy and jobs, which are helping boost consumer confidence," Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, explained. "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."

The national median home price dropped once again, to $158,800 from $168,800 in December, and is down 3.7 percent from January 2010.

The NAR defines existing homes as all previously-owned single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, and co-ops. The group "seasonally adjusts" the sales numbers to factor in things like inclement weather, school sessions, winter holidays, etc to smooth out the trends. The NAR also describes its sales data based on an annual pace. The monthly figure represents the total number of housing units that would be sold in one year if the current rate were to continue unchanged.

Sales Pace by Region

Sales rose in all areas but the Northeast. There the numbers fell 4.6 percent to an annual rate of 830,000 in January, from 870,000 in December. Sales were also down 1.2 percent from a year ago.

In the Midwest, sales increased 1.8 percent to 1.14 million homes, from 1.11 million the previous month, and up 3.6 percent over January 2010.

The South saw sales jump up 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 2.02 million, from 1.97 million in December. That is up 8.0 percent over the year before.

Sales in the West bounced up 7.9 percent to 1.37 million from 1.33 million one month earlier, and are up 7.0 percent on a yearly basis.

Home Prices

The median home price, the point at which half of all homes are sold for more and half are sold for less, took some significant falls in all parts of the country in January.

In the Northeast, the median price fell to $236,500 from $237,300 and it was down 4.0 percent over last year's price.

The median price in the Midwest dropped to $126,300 from $139,700 in December. The new price is down 3.2 percent from January 2010.

In the South, the price sank to $136,600 in January from $148,400 and fell 2.1 percent in a year-over-year comparison.

The median price in the West declined to $193,200 from $204,400 and fell 5.7 percent from the previous year.

Inventory

Inventory fell 5.1 percent in January, to 3.38 million units for sale. At the current sales pace, there is a 7.6-month supply, down from an 8.2-month supply the month before. Inventory is now at its lowest point since December 2009.

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