Northeast Home Resales Post 11 Pct Annual Increase

New York Times ^ | 10/23/2009

[SeekAndFind]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Home resales in the Northeast posted the biggest annual increase of any region in the country last month, reflecting a more stable market than September last year when financial markets were roiled.

The nine-state region registered 81,000 home resales last month, up 11 percent from a year ago, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. The median price, however, fell 7 percent to $234,700.

Nationally, sales of existing homes jumped almost 8 percent from September last year, without adjusting for seasonal factors. The median sales price declined 8.5 percent to $174,900.

Real estate agents and economists attributed the brisk sales to a temporary federal tax credit. First-time homebuyers can receive a credit of 10 percent of the sales price, up to $8,000. The real estate industry is lobbying Congress to extend the credit, which expires at the end of November.

''The economy is not getting a lot better,'' said Michael Lynch, an economist with IHS Global Insight. ''So absent that extra incentive from the tax credit, we don't hold out hope that sales can continue to strengthen in that climate.''

The jobless rate in the Northeast held steady at 9 percent from August to September, the Labor Department said this week, the lowest regionally in the nation. But it's still up from 5.8 percent a year ago because of layoffs in the financial sector.

Six of nine major Northeast cities tracked in the Associated Press-Re/Max Monthly Housing Report showed annual increases in home sales in September, while all but one posted price declines. The report, also released Friday, analyzed sales transactions in the metropolitan statistical areas recorded by all real estate agents, regardless of company affiliation.

Here are some highlights from the region:

[MarkeyD]

A realtor friend of mine says that half the sales these days are from the banks.

[Zeddicus]

Sales up here (I’m in MA) are “improving” because people are losing their jobs and either being forced to unload their house at a big loss or lose it outright.

Cut the price of anything enough, and eventually it will sell.

I’m a perfect example of this: we just sold our house. Why? Because I lost my job with little chance of find another any time soon.

I just feel lucky because we bought before the bubble and although we’re losing money on paper, we’re still getting out with cash in our pocket. We also sold quickly (under 2 months), because we slashed our price well below the comps. In so doing, we just ruined the value for everyone else in the area (I don’t feel good about that, but we did what we had to do).

Many other people on my street, who built and bought at the peak of the bubble, are under water to the tune of $150,000 - $200,000+

[hinckley buzzard]

Sales of existing homes are up, as would be expected after a big price drop, banks putting more foreclosed homes on the market, and with the 8K tax credit available to first time home buyers(which expires November 30). Just as auto sales went up with "Cash for clunkers" in effect.

But new house building permits dropped dat an increasing not decreasing rate in September. An increase in new construction would reflect recovery, not just vacant houses changing hands.