Homes selling faster

Sale occurring 30 percent faster

Home sales are happening at a quicker pace, as measured on a yearly basis, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said in a recent report.

According to the NAR, there has been a drop in the amount of time it takes to sell a home. In July 2011, the median time a home was listed for sale on the market was 98 days. One year later, in July 2012, the listing time dropped to a median on 69 days.

This represents a 29.6 percent drop in listing time before sale. In addition, a third of homes sold in July were sold within the first month of listing.

This drop in the amount of listing time before sale coincides with a tightening of housing inventory throughout the U.S. July 2012 had a 6.4-month supply of homes on the market, the NAR said, which is a 31.2 percent drop from the 9.3-month supply seen in July 2011.

“As inventory has tightened homes have been selling more quickly,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in a statement. “A notable shortening of time on market began this spring, and this has created a general balance between home buyers and sellers in much of the country.”

Yun continued: “This equilibrium is supporting sustained price growth, and homes that are correctly priced tend to sell quickly, while those that aren’t often languish on the market.”

A balanced housing market?

According to the NAR, these results point to a balanced market. When inventory is near the 6-month mark, the median selling time is often near six weeks.

The NAR also noted that balance housing markets often bring a rise in home prices.

“Our current forecast is for the median existing home price to rise 4.5 to 5 percent this year and about 5 percent in 2013, which is somewhat stronger than historic norms because of the inventory shortfall that is most pronounced in the low price ranges,” Yun said.

Posted in: Home Equity, Mortgage, Refinance

Home Equity News: This article was published on 9-14-2012 at 10:58 am.

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