RB....maybe these will answer some of your questions. The NAR seems to lump residential "resales" into what it calls, "sales of exsiting homes":
Quote:
http://www.realtor.org/PublicAffairs...ges/MarchEHS06
.....“We now see appreciation cooling to single-digit rates of price growth – another sign that the market is normalizing,” Lereah said. The national median existing-home price2 for all housing types was $218,000 in March, up 7.4 percent from March 2005 when the median was $203,000. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less. .....
....Total housing inventory levels rose 7.0 percent at the end of March to 3.19 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.5-month supply at the current sales pace.....
........Single-family home sales rose 0.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.07 million in March from 6.05 million in February, and were 0.5 percent below the 6.10 million-unit pace in March 2005. The median existing single-family home price was $217,300 in March, up 7.8 percent from a year ago.
Existing condominium and cooperative housing sales increased 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 854,000 units in March from a level of 852,000 in February, but were 2.0 percent below the 871,000-unit pace a year ago. The median existing condo price3 was $225,500 in March, up 6.1 percent from March 2005..........
<b>........Existing-home sales, which include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, are based on transaction closings.</b> This differs from the U.S. Census Bureau’s series on new single-family home sales, which are based on contracts or the acceptance of a deposit. Because of these differences, it is not uncommon for each series to move in different directions in the same month. <b>In addition, existing-home sales, which generally account for 85 percent of total home sales,</b> are based on a much larger sample – nearly 40 percent of multiple listing service data each month – and typically are not subject to large prior-month revisions.........
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Quote:
http://www.realtor.org/PublicAffairs...6?OpenDocument
Housing Market Taking A Breather But Staying Strong
WASHINGTON (May 9, 2006) – The housing market is settling but should experience its third best year in 2006, with job creation and a growing economy offsetting some of the effects of rising interest rates, according to the National Association of Realtors®.....
Existing-home sales are likely to fall 6.4 percent to 6.62 million in 2006 from a record 7.08 million last year. New-home sales are projected to drop 11.6 percent to 1.13 million from last year’s record of 1.28 million. Housing starts should decline 3.7 percent to 1.99 million this year compared with 2.07 million in 2005.....
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National average selling price is up 33 percent between March, 2002, and March 2006.....$163100 vs. 217300. Unsold inventory of existing homes is 3.19 million in March, 2006, an increase of 38 percent vs. the 2.31 million inventory of existing homes for sale in March, 2002.
NAR does not track the number of foreclosed units available for sale, or the closing of foreclosure sales.
Quote:
http://www.realtor.org/PublicAffairs...3?OpenDocument
March Existing-Home Sales Ease More Sustainable Pace
WASHINGTON (April 25, 2002) – After surging to an unprecedented record at the beginning of the year, existing single-family home sales declined in March but remain at a historically strong level, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Existing-home sales fell 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate* of 5.53 million units in March from an upwardly revised pace of 5.86 million units in February. Last month’s sales activity was 2.0 percent above the 5.42-million unit level in March 2002, and was the 11th best month on record......
........The national median existing-home price was $163,100 in March, up 6.5 percent from March 2002 when the median price was $153,200. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Housing inventory levels at the end of March rose 7.4 percent from February to a total of 2.31 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 5.0-month supply at the current sales pace.
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There is a lively debate here as to whether, at today's prices...it even pays to purchase real estate to occupy....or to rent, instead:
Quote:
http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showth...6&pagenumber=1
Question: Does it pay to purchase a house for a "tax shelter"?
U.S. median home price: $232,500 (Mar '06)
Down payment: 20%
Loan amount: $186,000
Interest rate: 6.13% (Mar '06)
Term: 30-year fixed
Total interest paid over 30 years: $275,609
Average annual interest paid: $9,187
Average annual interest deduction: $2,756 (30% tax bracket)
Difference: $9,187 - $2,756 = $6,431
Answer: The interest payments are much greater than the interest deductions. The notion that a home is a tax shelter is a myth.
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Disclaimer: "Mrs. host" and I make a monthly mortgage payment. At current valuations in our market, we own a 30 percent equity stake in "our" property.
We have no plans to sell or move. We expect and accept that....in the next five years our equity will be reduced to zero in the coming collapse of real estate valuations. Our view competes with our other view that the dollar will collapse to a level that will lessen the impact of fixed mortgage payments and will increase the valuation...measured in inflated dollar terms of our home.
....if our income stream can keep pace with inflation caused by collapsing dollar purchasing power.
By about 2012....there should be enough strain on the economy, aggravated by the collapse of U.S. spending power and energy and raw material scarcity to initiate <a href="http://www.kwaves.com/kond_overview.htm">a sustained period of massive deflation</a>....as the Fed's losing strategy to inflate the U.S. economy out of it's debt woes, inevitably fails, demand collapses, and money (not "fiat paper") is king.