National Housing Market Update - April 2023

Dated: April 3 2023

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Existing Home Sales Stronger, Despite Media Reports

Per the National Association of Realtors existing home sales rose 14.5% from January to February, ending 12 consecutive months of declines. It’s important to note this report measures closings on existing homes, which represent around 90% of the market, making it a good gauge for keeping track of the housing sector.

Sometimes the media has the numbers correct but misled in what the numbers actually mean. Here’s a great example:  while there was a 0.2% decline in the median home price nationally to $363,000 from a year earlier, this is not the same as a decline in home prices. Here’s what I mean. The median home price simply means half the homes sold were above that price and half were below it, and this figure can be skewed by the mix of sales among lower-priced and higher-priced homes. Get this: Real appreciation data per the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed that home prices were 5.8% higher than a year earlier.

Signed Contracts on New Homes Rose for a 3rd Consecutive Month

New Home Sales, which measure signed contracts on new homes, rose 1.1% in February. This was much stronger than estimates of a 3% decline and marks the third straight month that sales moved higher. However, downside revisions were made to January’s sales figure and sales remain 19% lower than they were in February of last year. No surprise there that was expected. Now  here is a great example of Why it's important to dive into the numbers. There were 436,000 new homes for sale at the end of February, which equates to an 8.2 months’ supply at the current sales rate.HOWEVER, only 72,000 were actually completed. The rest were either under construction or not even started. This reflects a growing backlog among builders, as the number of completed homes equates to just A 1.4 months’ supply, which is well below a balanced market.

Alicia Huey, Chair for the National Association of Home Builders, points out  that builders report a“strong pent-up demand” with many buyers “turning more to the new home market due to a shortage of existing inventory.”

Source: MBS Highway

If you’re looking to buy or sell in the Seneca/Lake Keowee market give me a call. I’m always available for a real estate conversation.

Eric Stegall 864-903-5719

 

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