Existing home sales down in December
January 2006
Figures released today buy the National Association of Realtors indicate that 2005 was not only a record year for existing family home sales, but the fifth record year in a row. There were 7.072 million existing-home sales in the whole of 2005, up 4.2 percent from 6.784 million in 2004.
In December there was a fall of 5.7 percent in existing home sales, which were 3.1 percent lower that December 04. Single Family homes had the largest decline at 6.8 percent and were 4.2 percent lower than Dec 04. Existing Condo and coop sales increased in December by 1.6 percent, up 4.5 percent from December 04.
The decline in home sales for the month was expected by NAR's David Lereah who said "This is part of the market adjustment we’ve been discussing, with a soft landing in sight for the housing sector. The level of home sales activity is now at a sustainable level, and is likely to pick up a bit in the months ahead. Overall fundamentals remain solid, driven by population and employment growth as well as favorable affordability conditions in most of the country, so we expect the housing market to remain historically high but lower than last year’s record."
The national median existing home price for 2005 was $208,700, a rise 12.7 percent from 2004, while for it was up 10.5 percent over December 04. For 2005, the median single-family price was $207,300, up 12.6 percent from 2004, while the median condo price was $218,200, up 12.7 percent from 2004. December 05 vs Dec 04 price rises were 10.8 percent for single family homes and 10.2 percent for condos respectively. This is the third consecutive month there has been a fall in price growth.
NAR President Thomas M. Stevens said "With the supply of homes improving and buyers having more choices, the rate of price growth should come down to more normal levels this year."
Regional Trends
Its appears that boom markets continued to be buoyant, while the non-boom areas are being hit harder. More generally the major US regions displayed a wide range of data.
The largest fall in existing home sales occurred in the West with a drop of 11.4 percent in December and the region was 11.4 percent below a year ago. Median existing-home price was up 14.0 percent, at $318,000, from December 2004.
In the South existing home sales fell 7.2 percent in December but were 1.2 percent higher than December 2004. Median price was up 4.6 percent from a year earlier, at $182,000.
Existing-home sales in the Midwest fell by 2.6 percent in December, and were 1.9 percent below a year ago. Median price in the Midwest was 10.9 percent higher than December 2004 at $173,000.
Northeast existing home sales were flat at an annual sales rate of 1.09 million units in December, and were 3.5 percent lower than December 04. Median price in the Northeast was up 11.4 percent from a year ago at $245,000.
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