The National Association of Realtors released the existing home sales figures for August 2008 today. Sales decreased to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.910 million units in August, down 2.19% from July 2008 and down 10.73% from August 2007. Sales have averaged an annual rate of 4.940 for the first eight months this year. The median sales price was $203,100 for August down sharply from $212,400 in July (down 3.4%) and down from $224,400 in August 2007 (down 9.5%). The price declines were led by the West which was down 10.8% in August compared to the previous month. The other 3 regions were only down 0.9% for the month. According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist: “The highest concentration of foreclosures is in the West, which is weighing down the median price because many buyers are taking advantage of deeply discounted prices.”
The inventory of existing homes fell to 4.225 million units down from 4.575 million in July 2008. Even though sales fell in August, the fall in inventory was bigger causing Month's supply to fall to 10.4 from the previous month's figure of 10.9. While month's supply and inventory improved slightly, there is still too much supply. We are also entering into a slower season for real estate.
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