Existing Home Sales Up

Overall, from their low of 3.84 million units in July, existing home sales have gained 22 percent. However, year-over-year, existing homes sales are still 28 percent below the cyclical peak of 6.49 million in November 2009. Courtesy of NAHB

Existing homes sales have returned to their strong upward trend in November, after a pause in October. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a 5.6 percent increase to 4.68 million (seasonally adjusted annual rate - SAAR) in November, following a 2.2 percent decline in October. This returns home sales the recovery path begun with strong gains in August and September.

The strong growth was driven by single family home sales, which rose 6.7 percent to 4.15 million units (SAAR). This sector seems to offer landscape contractors the best opportunity to secure maintenance and installation jobs.

Condominium and coop sales slipped, falling 1.9 percent to 530,000. The growth in existing home sales was consistent across the regions, with sales increasing 11.7 percent in the West, expanding 6.4 percent in the Midwest, up 2.9 percent in the South and rising 2.7 percent in the Northeast.

NAR suggested that the market is recovering and we should trend up to a healthy sustainable level in 2011. While they note that the mortgage interest rates have ticked up in recent weeks, with the Freddie Mac national average commitment rate for a 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgage rising 7 basis points to 4.3 percent in the past month. Overall conditions remain extremely favorable for buyer who can obtain credit. They will enjoy favorable conditions into the new year.

- Courtesy of NAHB