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September 25, 2012
A new national report offers economic data that differs slightly from activity in the Tri-parish region.
The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales increased at an annual rate of 4.82 million units in August, representing a 9.3 percent increased from the same month one year earlier. This move also represents a 7.8 percent boost from July.
“The housing market is steadily recovering with consistent increases in both home sales and median prices,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a printed statement. “More buyers are taking advantage of excellent housing affordability conditions [and] inventories in many parts of the country are broadly balanced, favoring neither sellers nor buyers.”
According to Realtor Ron Brooks of Patterson Real Estate, local activity differs from national trends. “We showed a decline in July to August sales, but we are coming off a fantastic June,” he said. “That was the best month that we have had since 2008.”
Data tabulated by the Bayou Board of Realtors offers a look at existing home sales for the first eight months of 2012. In the typically soft month of January, sales totaled $30.5 million. February is listed as generating $27.1 million, March was $42.5 million, April was $39.3 million, May was $41.9 million, June was $48.8, July was $37.5 and August sales totaled $32.3.
“The difference between August 2011 and August 2012 is that we were about $1 million under for this year,” Brooks said. The median price of existing homes in the region has held steady with the previous year at a range of $150,000 and $200,000.
The national median price for a home during August is listed at $187,400 and represents a 9.5 percent increase from one year earlier.
Yun said the national August increase was the strongest since January 2006 when median prices increased 10.2 percent from the same month in 2005.
Distresses, foreclosed and short sale homes accounted for 22 percent of August sales, nationally, while the total housing inventory increased 2.9 percent to 2.47 million available existing homes.
“Neighborhoods take on patterns of development,” Brooks said. “Houses that are two to five years old enjoy a good resale. Then the older homes [begin to move].”
“Home sales have definitely been good all year,” real estate broker Debbie Chauvin of Weichert Realtors said. “We’ve also had commercial growth because people are opening their budgets and expanding operations. We’ve been slow in commercial during the last three years, but that has turned around and residential really has not slowed down.”
The NAR report said first-time buyers accounted for 31 percent of August purchases, which was down three points from July’s 34 percent and one point lower than the 32 percent of purchasers in August 2011.
Nationally, single home sales were up 10 percent in August from the same time one year earlier. Based on the same calendar, existing condominium sales were up 4 percent.
Regionally, existing home sales for the August-to-August measurement increased 8.6 percent in the Northeast, 17.9 percent in the Midwest, 6.5 percent in the South, but in the West there was no change in activity from the same month one year earlier although there was an 8.3 percent improvement from the previous month.
Existing home sales were up for most of the nation in August, while Tri-parish real estate professionals watched a more moderate trend.
