Winter weather blamed for home sales decline
Citing a “disruptive and prolonged winter,” the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said sales of existing homes fell to their lowest level in a year and a half in January.
Total existing home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, dropped 5.1 percent on both a monthly and year-over-year basis to 4.62 million. It was the slowest month for sales since July 2012 when 4.59 million homes were sold.
Of the four regions of the country, the Northeast saw the most modest decline in sales, which dropped 3.1 percent from January 2013 to 620,000. The median price was $241,000, up 6.6 percent from a year earlier. Sales in the West were down 7.3 percent, followed by a 7.1-percent decline in the Midwest and 3.5-percent drop in the South.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the weather will delay some housing activity until spring.
“At the same time, we can’t ignore the ongoing headwinds of tight credit, limited inventory, higher prices and higher mortgage interest rates,” he added. “These issues will hinder home sales activity until the positive factors of job growth and new supply from higher housing starts begin to make an impact.”
The median price for existing housing in the U.S. was $188,900 in January, up 10.7 percent from 2013. Short sales and homes in foreclosure accounted for 15 percent of sales compared with 14 percent in December and 24 percent in January 2013.
Total inventory was up 2.2 percent at the end of January, to 1.9 million homes. That represents a 4.9-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 4.6 months in December, NAR said.
Read more
New home sales up slightly, but below expectations
December single-family home sales see modest decline
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments