Posted on 10/25/2006 7:14:54 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
WASHINGTON — Sales of existing homes fell for a sixth straight month in September and the median sales price dropped on an annual basis by the largest amount on record, further documenting a lukewarm housing market. The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes fell by 1.9 percent in September to a seasonally adjusted sales pace of 6.18 million units, the slowest sales rate since January 2004. The median price of a single-family home fell to $219,800 last month, a drop of 2.5 percent from the price in September 2005. That was the biggest year-over-year price decline in records going back nearly four decades.
Housing, which had set sales records for both new and existing homes for five consecutive years, has been rapidly loosing altitude this year, as consumers were battered by rising mortgage rates, soaring energy prices and a slowing economy. However, economists with the Realtors said they believed the housing decline could be hitting bottom. "The worst is behind us as far as a market correction — this is likely the trough for sales," said David Lereah, the Realtors' chief economist. "When consumers recognize that home sales are stabilizing, we'll see the buyers who've been on the sidelines get back into the market."
However, analysts said that the weakness in housing could last for several more months with a real upturn in sales not occurring until next spring. Sales were down in all sections of the country except the South, which posted a small 0.4 percent increase. Sales fell the most in the Northeast, a drop of 3.7 percent, followed by the West, where sales were down 3.1 percent, and the Midwest, where sales fell by 2.8 percent. The inventory of unsold homes, after climbing to all-time highs, fell for a second straight month, decreasing 2.4 percent, to 3.75 million unsold homes at the end of September, which represents a 7.3 months supply at the September sales pace.
Sales of single-family homes dropped by 1.6 percent to an annual rate of 5.42 million units while sales of condominiums fell by 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 763,000 units. The 2.5 percent drop in the price of single-family homes pushed them down to $219,800 while condominium prices fell by 3.2 percent to a median price which was also $219,800.
MLS Statistics reports the following for the greater Houston housing market:
"The overall median price of single-family homes of $150,000 was a record for the month of September and an increase of 3.1 percent compared to the prior year. The average sales price for single-family homes was $199,752 during September, which was up 4.5 percent versus the same period last year."
Source: MLS Statistics (October 18, 2006): Houston Real Estate Market Continues To Experience DÉJÀ VU
Here we have 100 new houses under construction and 100 houses for sale and 100 real estate salesmen.
In North Texas the State Bird is the Construction Crane. There is a shortage of builders for the demand for houses. It looks like the crop duster is flying over with house seeds and planting. HOUSING IS NOT SLOWING DOWN HERE!
Those are new houses. The price drop-off is in existing houses. In fact, the presence or many new houses tends to depress the price of existing houses as most would rather purchase a new one rather than an existing one, especially with incentives the builder usually includes that can sometimes make it cheaper to buy new.
Check out Zillow.com They'll tell you the value of your home and there's no "sign up" information asked...
The same people that are always whining and crying about "affordable housing" are now whining and crying about the prices going down. I don't get it.
I'm sure some astute FReeper could find a story that stated the 6.18 million units in Jan 04 were a record pace...
Location is the key, but what someone would pay half a million dollars for in certain areas is a house I wouldn't even live in. I'm fortunate not to be looking in those areas apparently, or I'd be very unhappy.
California is sucking air.
If this is indeed what they are doing, the paper MUST be held accountable. Whoever is lying must be held accountable.
The Houston Chronicle is not actually lying. The editors are just choosing to run verbatim the negative story from AP about the national housing market. However, the paper will make little or no effort to produce in-house stories revealing the positive housing news in their home town at anywhere near the frequency it reprints negative stories.
The Houston Chronicle does what every other liberal rag in the nation does when a Republican is in the White House; accentuate the negative news and downplay or totally ignore the positive.
To hold the Houston Chronicle accountable, an entire blog site was created on the Internet to counter the paper's liberal bias and reveal the errors and mischaracterizations printed in the paper. The blog site was originally titled Chronically Biased.com but has been renamed Lone Star Times.com.
I live in Tampa, which has held up pretty well until recently, but the slowdown is very noticeable even here now. There are loads of "for sale" signs up in every neighborhood, and the houses sit and sit...just the opposite of 2004, when many houses were only on the market for hours before going under contract. I've been checking the listings, and prices ARE coming down, that's for sure. This correction will likely continue well into 2007. Buyers should be looking at 2Q or 3Q 2007 to buy. With gas prices well down from their earlier highs, and inflation being less of a threat, the Fed will cut interest rates next year to head off recession.
Thanks for the info. Today, Pulte homes' CEO said the housing market has not hit bottom yet. I'm getting conflicting info everywhere.
"the stock market is at record highs."
not adjusted for inflation
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(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
No, it is not. However, good try.
They build a lot around here (No. VA). Where they build their new homes (e.g. Loudoun county), the market is still shakey although I think the rest of the area has bottomed out. The simple fact is that a 1/4 acre or less lot in loudoun county with a 300k home on it is not worth 800k (or 725 now). So it's not surprising he said that since they can't build much in the more convenient locations where prices have stabilized. So what he said is true but it is also true that other areas around here have bottomed out.
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