Existing home sales bounce back in March, Ten-X says
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Market Data
Thursday, March 31, 2016
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Ten-X, an online real estate marketplace, has released its latest Ten-X Residential Real Estate nowcast which projects a rebound in existing home sales for March following a rash of regulatory and weather-related closing delays. According to the nowcast, March existing home sales will fall between seasonally adjusted annual rates of 5.15 and 5.55 million, with a targeted number of 5.32 million – a 4.8 percent increase from the previous month and a 2.6 percent year-over-year gain.
“Though U.S. home sales have seen significant volatility in recent months due to external factors, sales remain at a high overall level,” Ten-X Chief Economist Peter Muoio said in the release. “The housing market stands on solid ground despite global economic volatility and weaker U.S. GDP growth, with the firmer labor market and enhanced household budgets from low oil providing a boost to consumer confidence.”
Earlier this month, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported a sizeable drop-off in sales for February to 5.08 million units, down 7.1 percent from January, though up 2.2 percent year-over-year. The severity of the decline took most by surprise as the number also fell outside both the Ten-X nowcast and the consensus forecast ranges.
“Both January and February home sales were slightly better than a year ago, and our nowcast predicts that March will continue that trend,” Ten-X Executive Vice President Rick Sharga said. “But inventory levels remain low, and home price appreciation continues to outpace wage growth. These factors suggest that, even with mortgage rates near their historic lows, a return to more ‘normal’ levels of home sales is still off in the distance.”
NAR recently reported a 4.4 percent year-over-year increase in median existing home prices to $210,800 for February, the 48th consecutive month of year-over-year gains and falling within the range of $209,607 to $231,671 predicted by Ten-X in last month’s nowcast. Findings from the Ten-X Residential Real Estate nowcast suggest that sales prices for existing homes will fall between $209,207 and $231,229 in the month of March with a targeted price of $220,218, representing 4.5 percent month-over-month and year-over-year gains.
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