According to the National Association of Realtors, (NAR) the final number of existing homes sold for 2007, including condos, single family houses and co-ops, came in at 5.652 million units. That’s compared to 6.478 million units sold in 2006.
While prices and mortgages remain relatively low, making it a good time to purchase a home in the United States, the market has been showing an uncharacteristic weakness, according the NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun. “Home sales remain weak despite improved affordability conditions in many parts of the country, but we could get a quick boost to the market if loan limits are raised in combination with the bold cut in the Fed funds rate,” he said. “Home prices are lower, mortgage interest rates continue to decline and incomes are higher, but many potential buyers are delaying a purchase”
For the month of December, total housing inventory fell 7.4% to 3.91 million existing homes available for sale. That represents a 9.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 10.1 month supply in November. “The fall in inventory in December is encouraging, but inventories remain elevated and buyers have a clear edge over sellers in many markets,” Yun said.
For existing homes of all types, the national median price was $208,400 in December, down 6.0 percent from a year earlier when the median was $221,600. For all of 2007, the median price was $218,900, down 1.4 percent from a median of $221,900 in 2006.
According to NAR President Richard Gaylord, while overall numbers are down, there are still many strong markets in the country. “Many local areas continue to have healthy or improving local housing markets,” he said. “For example, we saw higher home sales last month in diverse areas such as San Antonio; Syracuse; Springfield, Ill.; and Sarasota, Fla.”
