N@N

Existing Home Sales Jump 6.5% in December.

^{Published on 2009-02-04 13:26:03 - cecily lees}
 

CNN Money reported that the number of existing homes sold in December rose 6.5% from the previous month, according to a report released Monday 2nd February, as bargain hunters took advantage of plummeting prices.

The USA National Association of Realtors said that home sales increased to a seasonally-adjusted, annualized rate of 4.74 million units. That's up from a revised pace of 4.45 million units sold in November and more than the rate of 4.4 million units projected by a consensus of industry analysts as reported by Briefing.com.

Bargain hunters: Bargain prices are bringing buyers back into the market. The median existing home price was down 15.3% to $175,400 from December 2007, when the median price was $207,000. The median price measures where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

"Americans love a bargain, and the housing market is no exception," said Mike Larson, real estate and interest rate analyst for Weiss Research in a written statement.

According to Cecily Lees of Safe Haven Real Estate in Dominica in the West Indies www.safehavenrealestate.com, Housing in warmer climates seems to be performing better than others. Lees represents properties exclusively in the Caribbean, which she believes represents excellent value for money especially in Dominica. Homes, land, restaurants and hotels for sale in the Caribbean are still relatively cheap compared to other geographic locations. An example from Cecily can be view here:

http://www.safehavenrealestate.com/details1.cfm

Thanks to the sales increase, the number of homes available on the US market decreased 11.7% in December from the previous month, to 3.68 million. That represents a 9.3-month inventory supply at the current pace of sales, down from a 11.2-month supply in November.

"That's exactly what we need to see if the housing market is ever going to get back to a state of equilibrium," said Larson.

Surge in the West: The number of homes sold nationwide was buoyed by a surge in the West, where the housing market has been hardest hit by a record number of foreclosures.

Existing home sales in the West surged 13.6% to an annual rate of 1.25 million in December, up 31.6% from a year ago. But the median price in the West was $213,100, down 31.5% from December 2007.

In the South, existing home sales increased 7.4% to an annual pace of 1.74 million in December, but that was still 11.2% lower than December a year ago. And sales in the Midwest increased 4% in December to an annual rate of 1.04 million, but were down 10.3% from the same period last year.

The Northeast saw sales edge 1.4% lower, to an annual pace of 720,000 in December, down 14.3% from December 2007.

CONTACT:

Cecily Lees SAFE HAVEN REAL ESTATE DOMINICA

www.safehavenrealestate.com

safehavenrealestate@gmail.com

1-767-448-5718