Monday, November 23, 2009
Existing Home Sales in the United States Rise in October by a Staggering 10.1 Percent!
The U.S. housing market is showing more signs of increased activity, as cheap home values and the ongoing support from the U.S. government through tax credits for first time buyers continue to support activity in the housing sector, yet the housing market is still stabilizing amid the worst slump since the early 1930s and we should expect activity to increase only gradually, since rising unemployment, tightened credit conditions, and rising foreclosures will continue to weigh down on activity in the housing market.
The National Association for Realtors released today the existing home sales index for the month of October, existing home sales increase in October by a staggering 10.1% to an annual rate of 6.10 million units from the prior revised estimate of 5.54 million units, where single family home sales increase by 9.7%, and Condos sales increased by 13.2%.
Moreover, the supply for pre-owned homes available for sale declined noticeably in October to 7.0 months from the prior reported estimate of 8.0 months of worth of supply, as the median price dropped in October to $173.100 from $176.000, while average prices for homes declined to $218.100 from $221,000.
Cheap home values continues to support activity in the housing market, as it’s luring consumers into buying homes, while the tax credit program from the government for first time buyers which was extended by President Obama indeed continues to support activity as well, as though the housing market is still stabilizing and we probably won’t see a sustained recovery in activity, but still activity overall is rising.
However, we still expect the housing market to remain under pressure, especially as unemployment is now standing at a 26-year high above 10%, while the outlook for the labor market still suggests that unemployment will probably rise further over the upcoming few months before it starts to drop back probably within next year.
Rising unemployment will l surely affect activity in the housing market, as income growth will drop and accordingly consumer spending will decrease and savings on the other hand will increase, and since consumers are still rather uncertain over the outlook for the economy, they will continue to save rather than spending money, and considering credit conditions are still tight, we should expect activity in the housing market to be negatively affected, which means that the recovery won’t be to continue over a strong pace.
Yet still we are past the worst of this housing crisis, as the housing market seemingly managed to reach its bottom and started to rebound slightly, though activity is still stabilizing but the housing market is indeed improving, and that could provide a solid base for any upcoming recovery for housing market activity, though we still expect the housing market to continue being under pressure at least in the first half of next year.
However, this was still good news for investors, as equity markets rose strongly in today’s early trading session, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose so far by 1.65% and was last traded at 10488.81, while the S&P 500 index rose by 20.14 points to trade at 1111.52, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose by almost 2% to reach 2187.91, data as of 10:18 New York time.
this article was copied from E-News.
The U.S. housing market is showing more signs of increased activity, as cheap home values and the ongoing support from the U.S. government through tax credits for first time buyers continue to support activity in the housing sector, yet the housing market is still stabilizing amid the worst slump since the early 1930s and we should expect activity to increase only gradually, since rising unemployment, tightened credit conditions, and rising foreclosures will continue to weigh down on activity in the housing market.
The National Association for Realtors released today the existing home sales index for the month of October, existing home sales increase in October by a staggering 10.1% to an annual rate of 6.10 million units from the prior revised estimate of 5.54 million units, where single family home sales increase by 9.7%, and Condos sales increased by 13.2%.
Moreover, the supply for pre-owned homes available for sale declined noticeably in October to 7.0 months from the prior reported estimate of 8.0 months of worth of supply, as the median price dropped in October to $173.100 from $176.000, while average prices for homes declined to $218.100 from $221,000.
Cheap home values continues to support activity in the housing market, as it’s luring consumers into buying homes, while the tax credit program from the government for first time buyers which was extended by President Obama indeed continues to support activity as well, as though the housing market is still stabilizing and we probably won’t see a sustained recovery in activity, but still activity overall is rising.
However, we still expect the housing market to remain under pressure, especially as unemployment is now standing at a 26-year high above 10%, while the outlook for the labor market still suggests that unemployment will probably rise further over the upcoming few months before it starts to drop back probably within next year.
Rising unemployment will l surely affect activity in the housing market, as income growth will drop and accordingly consumer spending will decrease and savings on the other hand will increase, and since consumers are still rather uncertain over the outlook for the economy, they will continue to save rather than spending money, and considering credit conditions are still tight, we should expect activity in the housing market to be negatively affected, which means that the recovery won’t be to continue over a strong pace.
Yet still we are past the worst of this housing crisis, as the housing market seemingly managed to reach its bottom and started to rebound slightly, though activity is still stabilizing but the housing market is indeed improving, and that could provide a solid base for any upcoming recovery for housing market activity, though we still expect the housing market to continue being under pressure at least in the first half of next year.
However, this was still good news for investors, as equity markets rose strongly in today’s early trading session, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average index rose so far by 1.65% and was last traded at 10488.81, while the S&P 500 index rose by 20.14 points to trade at 1111.52, and the NASDAQ Composite index rose by almost 2% to reach 2187.91, data as of 10:18 New York time.
this article was copied from E-News.
Labels: Big News today from NAR on existing home sales for October
