Home sales bounced back strongly in September with the help of the first-time buyer's tax credit driving much of the activity. This marks five gains in the past six months, making sales activity its highest in over two years, according to an article released on Realtor.org.
Existing home sales include single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes and co-ops. Each one jumped 9.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.57 million units in the month of September from 5.10 million in August.
Since the tax credit has recently been extended for first-time home buyers and there has been an addition to the tax credit for repeat buyers, many are feeling hopeful to see even more strong home sales activity because it's what's needed for a few additional quarters to help us reach a point of a self-sustaining recovery.
Since September, housing inventory has fallen 7.5% to 3.63 million existing homes for sale. Now, unsold inventory totals are 15.0% below a year ago. The current housing supply is the lowest it has been in over two years. If this could continue, home prices could return to normal by next year.
In the Northeast, existing home sales were 11.8% higher than September 2008. The Northeast's median home price was $234.700, which is down 7.0% from one year ago.
In the Midwest, existing home sales jumped up 9.6% in September, making them 7.8% higher than they were that same month one year earlier. The median home price in the Midwest was $147,600 in September, which was down by 1.0% from one year ago.
The South's existing home sales rose 9.0% in September, which is 10.0% higher than sales of September 2008. The South's median home price in September was $153,500, which is down 7.6% from one year ago.
The West saw a surge of 13.0% in their existing home sales in September, which was up 5.7% from September 2008. The West's median home price was $219,000 in September, which was below what they were one year ago.
I am so hopeful that the trend is sustainable. Somehow, I feel next spring will show more robust signs of recovery in the housing market.