U.S. Existing Home Sales Rise on Record Price Slump

[melm00se]

Source: Bloomberg

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. unexpectedly rose from a record low, propelled by the biggest slump in prices since the Great Depression as foreclosures surged.

Purchases rose 6.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.74 million from 4.45 million in November that was less than previously estimated, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The median price dropped 15 percent from a year ago, the biggest decline since records began in 1968 and probably the biggest in seven decades, according to the group.

Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9w...

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Beginnings of a turnaround or a dead cat bounce?

[NMDemDist2]

1. it's a blip IMO

not sustainable

My house in PHX has lost 30% of it's value since I sold it in 2006

poor gal(the buyer), hope she can hang on to it until things turn around

[HereSince1628]

3. Sales were reported off in Milwaukee at the same time prices were up

I believe the numbers I saw were for November.

I can't imagine many people even looking at homes around here in December's snow and now the recent cold.

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. Look at your own graph

You don't see prices reverting back to the pre-bubble level? I sure do. That could be inherently sustainable.

[NMDemDist2]

16. correct, but they aren't there yet

at least in PHX

[Cronus Protagonist]

19. Nice name change there!

It's so much easier to pronounce now.

[NMDemDist2]

23. ROFL is it really???

at least it's geographically correct now

[FreeStateDemocrat]

2. Foreclosures, banks are dumping non-revenue producing inventory at fire sale prices.

Bargain hunters are picking over the carrion of other people's misery.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Yep. That's certainly driving the sales in the SF Bay area.

The counties with the highest rate of foreclosures had the highest increase in sales and the biggest drop in average price.

[slackmaster]

8. Same in San Diego - A large percentage of sales are REOs

And that's not altogether bad.

Bargain hunters are picking over the carrion of other people's misery.

To paraphrase Roxy Music, in every heartache a dream home.

[madrchsod]

5. the bank just called to make sure we pay the rest of our january house payment

by friday....she said the bank is basically running out of money so they need payments on time.it`s a small regional bank in northern illinois that has been in business since the 30`s. they have lost the ability to borrow money and now they have to rely on what ever money they can collect each day to operate.

thank goodness i`m receiving enough social security to pay the mortgage on time.

[Roland99]

6. Investors capitalizing on cheap prices, cheap debt (low rates) and rising rents

I'd consider it if I had the ability.

[Dreamer Tatum]

11. Or, maybe it's people looking for a place to live at lower prices nt

[Javaman]

7. The question is: who is buying them? nt

[slackmaster]

9. People like my friend Dan the middle school teacher

Age 42, single, never married; just bought his first home.

[Javaman]

12. That's good to hear. :)

I'm just a bit worried it maybe some folks, trying to go the "flipping" route again.

buying several houses cheap in hopes of...well, you know.

[slackmaster]

13. Flipping doesn't work very well in a regime of falling prices

[Javaman]

15. true, I'm thinking there are people out there thinking the prices have hit bottom

and have this misplaced hope of making money when the prices, cough cough rise again. LOL

[melm00se]

17. flipping requires

price appreciation faster than the interest rate on the mortgage and that's not happening in very many places...even with the low interest rates (plus non-owner occupied housing carries a higher interest rate than owner occupied housing)

[FarCenter]

20. And mortgage terms now include sizeable down payments

[FedUpWithIt All]

21. My MIL just bought a small home.

She divorced in 2002 and lived in an apt. until a few months ago.

[BootinUp]

14. its certainly a significant number

also the inventory of homes declined significantly. Still a long way from things turning up in terms of home prices, but it suggests that the prices may not need to fall too much more.

[neverforget]

18. The National Association of Realtors? They have been saying everything

is fine for the last 2 years. I would take whatever they say with a gigantic grain of salt.

[PSPS]

22. Yes, but they're mostly foreclosures.

But the lesson to be learned from this is that if you price homes properly, they will sell even today. Plus it's easy to get mortgage money if you're qualified. The problem is that many houses are still way overpriced, at least double what they are really worth.