The president of Naroff Economic Advisors, Inc., Joel Naroff, believes that the turnaround of the housing market appears to be here, and is gaining momentum. The stock markets reacted favorably to this positive news. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over the 9 thousand mark for the first time this year since early in the month of January.
When reported on a seasonally-adjusted basis, home sales increased just over 3.5% to an annual rate of nearly 5 million in June. Sales of existing homes showed an increase in all four regions of the U.S.
These reported sales not only beat all economic projections, but were indeed the highest level since October of last year. Recent annual sales projections of just fewer than 4.85 million units have been exceeded. Additional good news is the amount of foreclosure filings around the country is decreasing. Approximately one out of three sales throughout the month of June was a foreclosure-related sale. This figure is down nearly 50% from 2008. Inventory of available homes has decreased as well to just under 4 million units. This figure equates to nearly a 9.5 month supply. The normal inventory is a seven-month supply, and that amount probably will not be seen on the market until 2010.
Median sales price for the month of June was $181,800. this amount if down fifteen percent from 2008 and a slight increase from May 2009.
|
