The term Existing Home in real estate speak, refers to a home that’s in “used” condition – a home that cannot be categorized as “new construction.”
The steadfast pencil pushers, statisticians, and number crunchers over at the National Association of REALTORS calculate the sum of Existing Homes sold on a monthly basis. For most in the industry, this report is the barometer by which the nation’s Real Estate Health is measured.
The Numbers as of October 2008
By the early part of October, approximately 5 million existing US homes were sold. This figure represents a small decline from September’s totals, as well as a very slight decline from the homes sold in October 2007.
All told, Existing Home sales appear to be holding their own in today’s turbulent market, as the October Existing Home Sales totals registered 14 consecutive months of sales resting just at the 5 million mark. This somewhat steady performance should absolutely be marked down as a positive – as a year and two months of anything represents a pattern as opposed to a blip. Now the Gloom and Doomers will continue their negative rant, but that’s only because most of them don’t actually pay attention to statistics.
Despite what the news tells us, Americans are buying and selling real estate at a somewhat steady clip. In fact, even with the modest decline, a number of markets including Florida posted solid Existing Home sales gains from a year ago.
As we head into the Holiday Season, buyer activity will most likely slow, which is pretty much on par for this time of year. While this sales reduction will result in a moderate housing inventory increase, states like Florida are considering foreclosure moratoriums as Governor Charlie Christ believes ceasing them during the holidays to be a good idea. (Why Thankya Charlie…)
He’s not alone, as mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in addition to the states of Connecticut and California are moving forward with them as well.
Such actions should limit the number of homes available to buy – counteracting the expected sales slow down and helping to keep the market (and prices) in check.
(Image courtesy: USA Today)
I hope you found this post useful! As always, if you or anyone you know is in need of a local Florida mortgage loan originator, I’m your guy. Call me at 888-859-7418 or apply online for your Florida mortgage. We’ll keep you posted and let you know when it’s time to pull the trigger!
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