Existing Home Sales Jump 10% in September Nationwide
We already knew our Hawaii Kai sales were up in September and reported that on our Hawaii Kai Market News page, but more good news is the National Assn of Realtors (NAR) report of a dramatic rise in numbers of sales. Existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, jumped 10.0% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.53 million in September from a downwardly revised 4.12 million in August. The sales still remained 19.1% below the 5.60 million-unit pace in September 2009 when first-time buyers were ramping up in advance of the initial deadline for the tax credit last November.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the housing market is in the early stages of recovery. "A housing recovery is taking place but will be choppy at times depending on the duration and impact of a foreclosure moratorium. But the overall direction should be a gradual rising trend in home sales with buyers responding to historically low mortgage interest rates and very favorable affordability conditions," he said.
Total housing inventory at the end of September fell 1.9% to 4.04 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 10.7-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 12.0-month supply in August. Raw unsold inventory is 11.7% below the record of 4.58 million in July 2008. Our Oahu inventory dramatically highlights the trend of the market, as months of "product" were down for both single family homes and condos.
Barbara Abe
808-226-2537
barbara@barbarashawaii.com
www.movetohawaiikai.com
www.barbarashawaii.com