US Home sales rising!
Jan 27th, 2009 by Vinny
All the news isn’t bad, US home sales are rising finally, almost half are distressed sales.
Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. unexpectedly rose from a record low, propelled by the biggest slump in prices since the Great Depression as foreclosures surged.
Purchases rose 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.74 million from 4.45 million in November that was less than previously estimated, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median price dropped 15 percent from a year ago, the biggest decline since records began in 1968 and probably the biggest in seven decades, according to the group.
Single-Family Homes
Resales of single-family homes increased 7 percent to an annual rate of 4.26 million. Sales of condos and co-ops rose 2.1 percent to a 480,000 rate.
The rebound last month was led by a distressed-property related jump in the West, including California, Nevada and Arizona, the NAR said. Sales of distressed properties accounted for about 45 percent of all sales last month.
Home sales have been falling since 2005 and prices peaked in 2006. Property values are down by about 23 percent, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index covering 20 metropolitan areas.
