OK, let’s get the not-so-great news out of the way: The 2008 median home sales price dropped a record 15.3 percent compared to the 2007 median home sale price of $175,400, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In addition, 2008 existing home sales are down 13.1 percent at 4.75 million units sold, compared to the 5.67 million existing units sold in 2007.
In fact, 2008 was the lowest year for existing home sales since 1997, when only 4.37 million units were sold.
Phew, I know that wasn't fun to read, right?
Don't worry--we also have good news about the latest home-sale figures:
In December, existing home sales actually rose 6.5 percent from the previous month—to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 4.74 million units.
Decent number for the times, huh? Actually, it’s better than what many economists predicted (they expected a 4.4 million-unit annualized rate).
Also, in December 2008, home inventories were down 11.7 percent from November 2008, which could be good news for construction because inventories must be down in order for builders to consider boosting construction.
Let's hope for more positive numbers in 2009-- and, hopefully, less foreclosure and bankruptcy in the new year, too.
Tags: foreclosure and bankruptcy, home sales
This entry was posted on Monday, January 26th, 2009 at 1:47 pm and is filed under Bankruptcy and the Economy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.