US Existing Home Sales, August 2010

Date: September 23,2010

US Existing Home Sales, August 2010 Results

Source: National Association of REALTORS

Link to Release: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2010/09/ehs_move

Summary: U.S. existing home transactions climbed 7.6 per cent in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million sales from July’s upwardly revised figure of 3.84 million. This figure was down 19.0 percent the rate of 5.1 million reported for August of 2009. The median selling price also increased last month – up 0.8 per cent year-over-year to $178,600. Distressed properties continued to account for approximately one-third of total sales.

Analysis: Record low interest rates coupled with the median selling price wellbelow pre-recession levels has presented very affordable home ownership opportunity for many households in the US. Unfortunately, even with the positive affordability picture, many households are not confident in their ability to purchase and pay for a home over the long term. This lack of consumer confidence has been reinforced recently by a number of less-than-stellar economic releases. This is why, even with strong month-over-month growth in transactions, the annual rate of sales remains well below annual totals reported for 2009, 2008 and 2007. The median selling price has remained flat due to high inventory levels relative to sales and a high proportion of distressed properties that generally sell at a discount to similar non-distressed homes.

Source: Toronto Real Estate Board

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