Home sales up, but prices fall
Realtors association report on existing-home sales suggests year's serious slump may be bottoming out.
Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Sales of existing homes managed to increase slightly in November, but the price of homes sold fell for a record fourth consecutive month, a real estate trade group reported Thursday.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes rose 0.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.28 million units. That followed a 0.5 percent sales increase in October and marked the first back-to-back sales gains since the spring of 2005.
The slight increases in sales were not enough to halt a slide in home prices. The median price for an existing home sold in November dropped to $218,000, down 3.1 percent from a year ago. It was the first time on record that sales prices compared to a year ago have fallen for four straight months.
The report on existing home sales offered further hope that this year's serious slump may be bottoming out.
It followed a report Wednesday that showed that new home sales rose 3.4 percent in November.
David Lereah, chief economist for the Realtors, said he believed that September's sales activity may represent the low point for sales this cycle, but he cautioned that home prices would probably continue declining for a few more months.
By region of the country, sales were down 1.6 percent in the South and unchanged in the Midwest. However, the Northeast posted a strong 6 percent sales gain, and the West had a sales increase of 0.8 percent.
The housing industry has been in a severe slump this year after posting five consecutive years of record sales of both new and existing homes.
Lereah said he believed sales of existing homes would fall by 9 percent this year and post a smaller drop of 1 percent in 2007.
Realtors association report on existing-home sales suggests year's serious slump may be bottoming out.
Martin Crutsinger / Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Sales of existing homes managed to increase slightly in November, but the price of homes sold fell for a record fourth consecutive month, a real estate trade group reported Thursday.
The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of previously owned homes rose 0.6 percent in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.28 million units. That followed a 0.5 percent sales increase in October and marked the first back-to-back sales gains since the spring of 2005.
The slight increases in sales were not enough to halt a slide in home prices. The median price for an existing home sold in November dropped to $218,000, down 3.1 percent from a year ago. It was the first time on record that sales prices compared to a year ago have fallen for four straight months.
The report on existing home sales offered further hope that this year's serious slump may be bottoming out.
It followed a report Wednesday that showed that new home sales rose 3.4 percent in November.
David Lereah, chief economist for the Realtors, said he believed that September's sales activity may represent the low point for sales this cycle, but he cautioned that home prices would probably continue declining for a few more months.
By region of the country, sales were down 1.6 percent in the South and unchanged in the Midwest. However, the Northeast posted a strong 6 percent sales gain, and the West had a sales increase of 0.8 percent.
The housing industry has been in a severe slump this year after posting five consecutive years of record sales of both new and existing homes.
Lereah said he believed sales of existing homes would fall by 9 percent this year and post a smaller drop of 1 percent in 2007.
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