The housing market is experiencing a healthy recovery – as shown by February existing-home sales and prices according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Both home sales and home prices have been above year-ago levels for several consecutive months now.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says conditions for continued housing improvement are at play. “Job growth in the improving economy and pent-up demand are causing both home sales and rental leasing to rise. Though home prices are rising much faster than rents, historically low mortgage rates are still making home purchases affordable,” he says. “The only headwinds are limited housing inventory, which varies greatly around the country, and credit conditions that remain too restrictive.”
Existing-home prices are up 11.6 percent from February 2012. The last time there were 12 consecutive months of year-over-year price increases was from June 2005 to May 2006. The February gain is the strongest since November 2005 when it was 12.9 percent above a year earlier.
“A strong rise in home values is contributing to housing wealth recovery, which has risen by $1.4 trillion in the past year and looks to top that increase this year,” Yun says. “The extra consumer spending arising from growth in housing wealth is expected to be $70 billion to $110 billion this year.”
The time a home has been on the market has dropped to an average of 74 day, versus 97 days in February 2012.
Foreclosures and short sales still account for about a fourth of February sales, up from 23 percent in January but down from 34 percent in February 2012.
Interest rates for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage continue to hover around 3.5%
You can read more on Existing-Home Sales and Prices here.
P.S. Spring is finally here even if the weather isn’t cooperating! It is never too early to start your home search or get your home ready for the Spring market. This past year was the busiest year we had in home sales in 5 years. This year could be even better! There are large numbers of homes at below-market prices & the Interest rates are hovering around 3.5%! Contact Sandra Meranda for details today!
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