The bottoming process in existing home sales continues, as YoY price comparisons increase – by New Deal democrat The bifurcation of the housing market between new and existing home components continues, as existing home sales continue near their bottom, but with a little improvement. Specifically, in January sales increased 120,000 on an annualized basis from an upwardly revised (by 80,000) 3.88 million to 4.00 million. This is the seventh...
Read More »Existing homeowners with 3% mortgages remain frozen in place, as sales fall to a new 28 year low
Existing homeowners with 3% mortgages remain frozen in place, as sales fall to a new 28 year low – by New Deal democrat October marked yet another month in the fully bifurcated housing market, in which most existing homeowners are frozen in place by their 3% mortgages, and buyers have turned to new homes (and in particular condos and apartments) instead. Existing home sales fell yet again, by 16,000 annualized, to 3.79 million, 45% down...
Read More »Existing home sales decline to recessionary levels
Existing home sales decline to recessionary levels; prices have clearly turned down; low inventory still a problem – by New Deal democrat As I wrote earlier this morning, my primary interest in existing home sales at this point is prices. [Note: graphs below for sales and prices does not include October] For the record, existing home sales fell to a new 2.5 year low (i.e., since the teeth of the pandemic lockdowns) of 4.430 million...
Read More »Prices of existing homes have probably peaked
Prices of existing homes have probably peaked By now you may already know that existing home sales declined further in July, to an 8 year low (excluding the pandemic lockdown months: This is roughly a 30% decline from their peak, and is certainly a recessionary level. But perhaps more importantly at the moment, it appears that the prices of existing homes have now peaked. Here is the one year graph from FRED: Since there is no...
Read More »Existing home sales: the freight train of price appreciation rolls on
Existing home sales: the freight train of price appreciation rolls on Although existing home sales are less economically important than new home sales, what has been happening with their prices, given the experience of the housing bubble and bust 15 years ago, is of added importance. The simple summary is that sales have declined substantially, while price appreciation keeps rolling on. Sales of existing homes were down 3.4% for the...
Read More »March New Home Sales Reported 8.6% Lower on Record Prices
RJS, MarketWatch 666 Summary: New Home Sales Reported 8.6% Lower on Record Prices in March, after Prior Months Sales Revised Much Higher The Census report on New Residential Sales for March (pdf) estimated that new single family homes were selling at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 763,000 homes during the month, which was 8.6 percent (±12.9 percent)* below the revised February annual sales rate of 835,000, and 12.6 percent (±11.3 percent)...
Read More »Final existing home sales report of 2021 is positive
Final existing home sales report of 2021 is positive As we wind down the year, most of the remaining data will be from the housing sector. Tomorrow we get new home sales, then next week one final round of house price indexes. Two months ago I wrote that “I suspect new home sales will increase, since interest rates stabilized at very low rates earlier this year, and the increase in existing home sales is some confirmatory evidence.” Since...
Read More »Existing home sales and prices, increase slightly; inventory declines slightly
Existing home sales and prices, increase slightly; inventory declines slightly [Programming note: There will be at least 4 significant reports tomorrow (Nov: 23): jobless claims, personal income and spending, new home sales, and corporate profits for Q3. Then nothing for the rest of the week. I may or may not report on everything tomorrow. I may hold some for Wednesday or Friday. Also, I will probably put up a Coronavirus Dashboard Wednesday or...
Read More »Median prices for existing homes is probably at peak; expect inventory to continue to increase
Median prices for existing homes is probably at peak; expect inventory to continue to increase Existing home sales were reported yesterday for September, up 7% month over month on a seasonally adjusted basis. While they are about 90% of the market, they are much less important for the economic cycle than are new home sales, which will be reported next week. I suspect new home sales will increase, since interest rates stabilized at very low...
Read More »A note on existing home sales
A note on existing home sales Existing home sales are the least noteworthy of the housing data, because of the very limited economic activity moving into or out of an existing home provokes compared with the construction, furnishing, and landscaping of a new home. But it’s worth a brief look, so let’s note this month’s report. Existing home sales (blue in the graph below) are only up 1.7% compared with one year ago, as opposed to new...
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