Buying a Home | Government Programs | LendingTree
Homes Sales in a Steep Decline
By Craig Grella
The month of December is typically a cold one for the real estate market. Agents report lower viewing activity and fewer sales overall. That sentiment is well supported by recently released data which points to another steep decline in existing home sales, in which December 2009 sales dropped 16.7 percent from November. Additionally, the total number of units for sale decreased 11.11 percent to just 3.3 million, which may have been responsible in part for the median price of sold homes increasing 1.5 percent to $178,300.
LendingTree.com’s chief economist, Cameron Findlay, expects that price increase to be short lived, though, as talks in the government concentrate around rising unemployment levels. Future delinquencies and foreclosures are also expected to rise, adding to the downward pressure upon home prices. Findlay also reports that, until the market reaches some equilibrium without federal intervention, the housing market will likely remain depressed.
However, new residential sales data for December 2009, expected tomorrow, may also shed new light on the subject.
