Existing-home sales rose in August following a big correction in July, according to a new report issued by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Existing-home sales – which are defined by NAR as completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 7.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.13 million in August, from an upwardly revised 3.84 million in July. However, they remain 19% below the 5.10 million-unit pace in August 2009.
‘The housing market is trying to recover on its own power without the home-buyer tax credit,’ says Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. ‘Despite very attractive affordability conditions, a housing-market recovery will likely be slow and gradual because of lingering economic uncertainty.’
NAR also determined that the national median existing-home price for all housing types was $178,600 in August, up 0.8% from a year ago. Distressed homes rose to 34% of sales in August, from 32% in July; they were 31% in August 2009. Total housing inventory at the end of August slipped 0.6% to 3.98 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 11.6-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 12.5-month supply in July.
SOURCE: National Association of Realtors