December 22, 2011 (Jeff Alan)
With home sales and prices stabilizing and housing inventories dwindling, home prices are expected to rebound during next year’s spring and summer selling season according to RE/MAX’s National Housing Report (NHR).
Closed transactions of home purchases increased 1.4 percent from October to November and were 8.1 percent higher than in November 2010, the fifth consecutive month home sales have increased year-over-year.
Forty-one out of the 53 metro areas in the report posted year-over-year increases in closed transactions. Last month 38 of the metro areas posted an increase in transactions. New Orleans, LA (+31.0%), Nashville, TN (+30.1%), Wilmington, DE (+28.0%), Omaha, NE (+25.9%), and Seattle, WA (+23.4%) recorded the highest gains in closed transactions in November.
The median sales price of homes sold in November was 1.4 percent higher than in the previous month of October, increasing from $176,770 to $181,322. The median sales price was still 4.2 percent lower than the median price of $189,353 in November of 2010.
Thirty-three of the 53 metro areas posted higher sales prices in November than they did a year earlier, up from 11 metro areas last month. The areas that posted the largest price gains during the month were Orlando, FL (+8.5%), Miami, FL (+6.1%), Detroit, MI (+5.9%), Houston, TX (+2.6%), and Denver, CO (+2.3%).
The average number of days it took to sell a home in November was 97, which was 2 days longer than the 95 days it took in October. The average month’s supply of inventory in November increased to 7.8 months from 7.7 months in October, but was still down from a 10.0 month supply of homes in November 2010.
For all 53 metro areas, the average monthly inventory of homes for sale declined by 9.3 percent from October and was 23.7 percent lower than in November 2010. It was the 17th consecutive month that the supply of homes for sale has declined.
Margaret Kelly, CEO of RE/MAX, LLC., stated, “This market is trying hard to stabilize itself with home sales significantly stronger than one year ago, even though we are entering the holiday season when sales traditionally decline. With sales trending higher and inventory falling, we would expect the result to be rebounding prices when we enter the stronger selling season next spring and summer.”
Tags: home sales, home prices, seasonal trends, closed transactions, median sales price
Source:
RE/MAX