Existing home sales and prices increase in January

dennis-norman-st-louis-realtor-existing-home-salesToday’s existing home sales report from the National Association of REALTORS® shows existing home sales in January were at at a seasonally adjusted-annual rate of 4.57 million units which is an increase of 4.3 percent from the month before and an increase of 0.7 percent from a year ago. The actual number of homes sold in January was 257,000 which is 26.4 percent less than the month before and 4.0 percent more than a year ago when there were 246,000 homes sold.

Home prices decrease for second consecutive month….

The median home price in the U.S. in January was $154,700, a decrease of 4.6 percent from the month before and a decrease of 2.0 percent from a year ago when the median price was $157,900.

Supply and Inventory of Homes for sale drop for sixth consecutive month….

The number of existing homes on the market decreased in January by 0.4 percent from the previous month to 2.31 million homes, and is down 20.6 percent from a year ago when there were 2.91 million homes for sale. The months supply of homes on the market decreased by 4.7 percent to 6.1 months from 6.4 months the month before and is down 20.8 percent from a year ago when the supply was 7.7 months.

The following are the ACTUAL Existing Home sales for January, 2012 reported by NAR without any adjustment or fluff:

  • There were 257,000 existing homes sold during the month which is a decrease of 26.4 percent from the month before and a 4 percent increase from a year ago.
  • Below are highlights from each region for the month;
    • Northeast – 30,000 homes sold, a decrease of 31.8 percent from the prior month a increase of 7.1 percent from the year before.
    • Midwest – 51,000 homes sold, a decrease of 32.9 percent from the prior month and an increase of 6.3 percent from the year before.
    • South – 101,000 homes sold, a decrease of 25.7 percent from the prior month and an increase of 4.1 percent from the year before.
    • West – 75,000 homes sold, a decrease of 19.4 percent from the prior month and an increase of 1.4 percent from the year before.

Other highlights of the NAR Report for January 2012:

  • Distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) accounted for 35 percent of all home sales for the month (22 percent were foreclosures and 13 percent short sales), up from 32 percent the month before.
  • First-Time homebuyers accounted for 33 percent of the home sales for the month, up from 31 percent the month before.
  • Investors were the buyers of 23 percent of the homes for the month, up from 21 percent the month before.
  • Repeat home buyers were responsible for approximately 44 percent of the month’s sales, down from 48 percent the month before.
  • Cash buyers were 31 percent of all sales for the month, same as the prior month.

 

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