Home sales, prices fall
The increase in existing-home sales in February that the National Association of Realtors reported wasn't repeated in March, according to numbers released this morning. Sales fell 2 percent from the month before, the trade group said. (Condo sales rose while single-family home sales dropped.)
The median price fell 7.7 percent from a year earlier, the NAR said, though it noted (as it has for months) that it believes the drop is being exaggerated by sharply lower sales in expensive places. (Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, which has already reported local numbers for March, says median prices in the Baltimore metro area fell 3.2 percent from a year earlier.)
The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, meanwhile, also released numbers this morning. It calculates that U.S. home prices fell 2.4 percent in February from a year earlier. OFHEO measures values differently -- wonk points to you if you knew that already. It looks at same-house transactions, and only those with loans purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.
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Comments
While prices may have fallen some, it is not enough. When I see homes for sale at prices that are in line with reality, I will step off the sidelines and make a purchase.
Posted by: Anon | April 22, 2008 11:37 AM
Let the prices fall more ASAP, so everybody can finally move on.
Posted by: Mister No | April 22, 2008 12:25 PM
I'm no housing bull, but it should also be noted that the OFHEO index sales price for Feb was HIGHER than the previous month. You had to click the link to get to that piece of important info.
Posted by: Mitch | April 22, 2008 2:11 PM
True, Mitch, but I'm generally leery of month-over-month changes in price. (I worry about month-over-month changes in sales, too, but a little less so.) OFHEO's monthly reports are new, which is why I thought it best to stick with the year-over-year comparison -- at least for a while.
Of course, all stats have their strengths and weaknesses from a purely number-crunching perspective. It's hard to tell when I'm being overly cautious.
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | April 22, 2008 2:16 PM
What's up with the condo sales increasing? Any theories?
I heard a report on NPR the other day about housing near metro stops in cities were increasing because it was saving commuters gas.
Posted by: N. Stephen Schatz | April 22, 2008 9:51 PM
Stephen, I thought the increase in condo sales was interesting. Too early to declare a trend, though: Despite the month-over-month rise, the year-over-year decline in condo sales is still steeper than that of single-family homes.
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | April 22, 2008 10:31 PM