Housing Market Jumps Again Could Hit 5 Year High:
August
Existing Home Sales jumped 7.8% from July - that was the
fastest annual rate since May 2010 and well above analysts' expectations of a
4.55 million-unit rate. Homes
rose 9.3% from the same period a year ago.
Nationwide, the median price for a home resale rose to $187,400 in August, up 9.5 percent from a year earlier
as fewer people sold their homes under distressed conditions.
Keep in mind that this added
demand for housing which is pushing up home prices started months before the
Federal Reserve announced their massive $40 billion per month in Agency (
Fannie Mae, Ginnie Mae and Freddie Mac) mortgage backed securities purchases
which have lowered rates even further since July.
“The strengthening housing
market is occurring even with difficult mortgage qualifying conditions, which
is testament to the sizable stored-up housing demand that accumulated in the
past five years,” said the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist
Lawrence Yun.
The gains in housing
would certainly be much higher if it weren't for strict mortgage
guidelines. But there is so much pent up demand for housing that 1/3 of
all existing home purchases were made with good old cash as investors realize
that time is shortening for them to pick up houses at good bargains now that
they see the home prices increasing. With the August jump of 7.8 percent from July, Realtors now say they are confident that home sales for all of 2012 will hit their highest level in five years.
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