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Midwest Home Sales Help to Stabilize Market09-30-08 | News

Midwest Home Sales Help to Stabilize Market

Home sales dropped in the largely populated areas of the Northeast and West, accounting for an overall 11.5 percent decline in new home sales and a 2.2 percent drop in existing home sales in August.

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Sales of new and existing homes were down in August, in part, due to a glut of housing currently on the market.

Sales of new single-family houses in August 2008 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 460,000, according to the Commerce Department. This is 11.5 percent below the revised July rate of 520,000 and is 34.5 percent below the August 2007 estimate of 702,000.

New home sales took a big hit in the Northeast and West, down 31.9 percent and 36.1 percent respectively from July 2008. According to the report, 32,000 new homes were sold in the Northeast and 78,000 were sold in the West. Sales were down in the South by 2.1 percent at 276,000 new homes, but an increase in new home sales was seen in the Midwest, with 74,000 new homes sold, accounting for a respectable 7.2 percent gain in August.

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Existing home sales were down in August according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales rose in the Midwest and South but fell in the Northeast and West.

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Single-family home sales slipped 1.4 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.35 million in August from an upwardly revised pace of 4.41 million in July, but are 9.6 percent below the 4.81 million-unit level a year ago. The median existing single-family home price was $201,900 in August, down 9.7 percent from August 2007.

Existing condominium and co-op sales dropped 8.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units in August from an upwardly revised level of 610,000 in July, and are 19 percent below the 691,000-unit pace in August 2007. The median existing condo price was $212,600 in August, which is 7.2 percent below a year ago.

Source: Commerce Department, National Association of Realtors, National Association of Home Builders