Bill Bowman's blog

The December existing home sales report was published on Monday. December sales were down 17% from November due to the planned expiration of the $8,000 first-time home buyers' credit.  November was artificially high and December artificially low.  Existing home sales were up 15% from a year ago and are now at a rate of 5.5mm.  Overall for all of 2009 the pace was 5.2mm homes, up 5% from 2008.

We reviewed all of our October post inspection surveys today and we are so happy and proud of the comments that have come in to us over the past month! A warm thank you to all the buyers, sellers, and agents who have allowed us to be a part of their transactions—it's great to read such wonderful feedback. We'll be working doubly hard for the rest of this quarter to continue to earn your support.

A few of our favorite unsolicited comments are below...

Existing home sales increased substantially during September, no doubt being spurred by the $8,000 tax credit going to first time home buyers. That credit expires at the end of November, and if it is not extended we can anticipate a slow down in home sales, much as auto dealers saw a 25% to 50% drop in business after "cash for clunkers" expired.  45% of September's sales were to first time home buyers.

NAR's July data for existing home sales was encouraging.  The annualized rate increased from 4.9 million units to 5.2 million units and was 5% above July, 2008.  This is the first time in nearly four years that sales were higher than the previous year.  The 7% increase from May was the largest monthly gain in ten years.

The $8,000 Federal rebate and the highest affordability record in years were primary drivers of the gain.  Distressed homes were 31% of the total, a reduction from previous months.  

The National Association of Realtors just published the June Existing Home Sales report.  Here are the highlights:

The May existing home data was published today by the NAR.  Here are the key points.

The NAR released the April existing home sales report this morning.  The full report is listed below, but here are the highlights:

The March existing home sale report was released by the National Association of Realtors this morning.  It reported a further decline in existing home sales, falling 3% from February to an annual rate of 4.57mm which is 7% below March, 2008.  The median home price is now $175,200 which is 12% below last year.  Over half the transactions in March were to first time buyers taking advantage of the lowest interest rates in 40 years (5% for 30 year conventional mortgage), and the $8,000

The Pending Home Sales Report for February was issued on Wednesday.  Here's a quick summary:

Overall, the pending home sales index was up 2.1% from January but is 1.4% below last year.  Here's how it breaks out by region:

• Northeast: Up 11% but still 11% below last year
• Midwest:  Up 15% and 3% higher than last year
• South:  Up 4% and flat with last year
• West:  DOWN 14% and 2% lower than last year

After all the froth out West, it looks as if that market is taking a breather.  

As you no doubt have heard, the February existing home sale report was released yesterday. Contrary to an expectation of a slight decline from January, February's sales were up 5.1% from January to a 4.7mm annual rate.  This is 4.6% below last year.