September Sales Prove 9.4% Higher

A recovery of the real estate market may be around the corner, if a recent market survey by the NAR {National Association of Realtors} is any indication. The NAR survey points out that sales of existing homes during September, 2009 had risen by 9.4 percent over the previous month, to a seasonally adjusted figure of 5.57 million units. This makes it the fifth successive month that such home sales have maintained a steady upward climb.

However, the chief economist of NAR, Lawrence Yun, notes that “… the rising sales momentum needs to continue for a few additional quarters until we reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery.” 

However, the national median price for existing homes continued to fall, for the third consecutive month. The September, 2009 median price of $174,900 is lower than the August figure of $177,300 and 8.5 percent less than the $191,200 that it had been a year back.

NAR’s Definition of “Existing Homes”

The NAR includes all previously-owned single-family houses, condos, townhouses and co-ops under the category of existing homes. The association factors in such periodic variables as rough weather, academic seasons, the holidays, and the like to “seasonally adjust” the sales figures. Besides, the NAR data has an annual framework. Thus, the monthly figure signifies the total number of homes that would be sold during one year at the current pace.

The sales of existing homes had shot up by varying degrees in different regions of the nation. The West showed the steepest growth of 13 percent over the previous month. The other regions of Midwest, South, and Northeast witnessed the respective hikes by 9.6 percent, 9 percent and 4.4 percent.

Eight Months’ Housing Inventory Remains

The total housing inventory dropped in September, 2009 to 3.63 million homes, marking a reduction of 7.5 percent from the previous month, and a fall by 15 percent from the corresponding figure of a year earlier. The current pace of sales spells that there is less than eight months’ supply of homes available in the market. Analysts believe that if the present rate of absorption of the home inventory continues, the home prices may start appreciating within a year.