Supply of homes for sale declines a touch
WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (UPI) — Existing U.S. home sales rose in January and unsold inventories declined, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.
The second consecutive month of declining inventories means a reduced supply of homes in the market, which is an indication that home prices could rise. Prices have remained low since the December 2007 through June 2009 recession.
NAR said there was a 6.1-month supply of homes on the market at the current pace of sales. That is down from a 6.2-month supply in December.
At the end of the month, there were 2.31 million existing homes on the market, compared with 2.38 million in December.
The trade group said sales of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops rose 4.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.57 million in the month. December’s adjusted annual rate was revised lower to a 4.38 million units per year pace.
Sales for the month were also 0.7 percent higher than the 4.54 million pace from January 2011.
“The uptrend in home sales is in line with all of the underlying fundamentals — pent-up household formation, record-low mortgage interest rates, bargain home prices, sustained job creation and rising rents,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said.
NAR said sales of existing homes rose 3.4 percent in the Northeast, 1 percent in the Midwest, 3.5 percent in the South and 8.8 percent in the West.
The average median price for an existing home was $154,400 in the month, down 2.6 percent from a year earlier.
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