Sales of existing homes rise breaks all-time record!

[Nick Gromicko]

Purchases increased 10 percent to a 4.53 million annual rate from 4.12 million in August, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The lowest mortgage rates on record and cheaper homes are enticing buyers.

[Gary Farnsworth]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39828557...s-real_estate/

Home sales are still down 37.5% from 2005.

And, they have risen slightly from July 2010, which was the lowest in 15 years. They should be going up. But when you add in investors and banks buying back properties, which most all do not get inspections, inspectors are still hurting.

By "breaking a record" I think you mean that home sales are finally going up, and not down as per every month so far this year. These figures are just that; figures. You can write down on paper any number you want. Who knows what is actually real. All I know for sure is that my home inspections are down 75% from 2005. That is what I relate to.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

My local Board of Realtors says their home sales numbers are done 144 homes from last year. Only sold about 800 houses so far this year.

[Nick Gromicko]

James, that is only an 18% drop in home sales. More than 18% of all inspectors are gone this year. Do you feel you have a stronger share of your market compared to last year?

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Not on home inspections, just on auxillaries.

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

16% - The amount that September home sales in the Tampa Bay area dropped compared with a year ago. Sales were down 4 percent just from August. And prices fell 7 percent to $127,400.

Nationally, a housing rebound appears to be taking hold, as home sales jumped 10 percent. Unfortunately, Florida will be late to the party.

“Florida’s housing market is feeling pressure from an uncertain economy,” Florida Realtors presidentWendell Davis said. “Easing foreclosures and increasing job growth would go a long way in stabilizing the market.” The current disconnect between Florida and much of the country might be summarized in two words: distressed sales. For the first time during the housing crisis, distressed sales accounted for a majority of homes sold in the bay area, according to an analysis of the September data by Tampa-based real estate consultancy Home Encounter.

All told, 52 percent of all bay area sales were distressed. The breakdown: 30 percent were foreclosures, and 22 percent were short sales

[Gary Farnsworth]

It is so slow here in KC that home figures are not even being released. I believe home prices are up nationwide, but that is a result of CA home prices increasing, some as much as 10%, and NV home prices finally going up some. However, banks are still holding on to these homes, and probably raising prices in order to make some revenue. Quite a fake market, IMO.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39845654...s-real_estate/

[Nick Gromicko]

Joe writes:

16% - The amount that September home sales in the Tampa Bay area dropped compared with a year ago.

Yeah, and Tampa lost 35% of its home inspectors in that year. How is this not an increase in sales/inspector?

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Joe writes: Yeah, and Tampa lost 35% of its home inspectors in that year. How is this not an increase in sales/inspector?

The home inspection profession in the Greater Tampa Bay area is a revolving door. As inspectors leave seeking greener pastures they are immediately replaced with newly licensed Shake-&-Bake Homies seeking their very first inspection experience.

[Gary Farnsworth]

Shake and Bake. LOL. Newbies are everywhere, and driving veterans out of the industry. Agents want it that way. Cheap in every way.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by gromicko

James, that is only an 18% drop in home sales. More than 18% of all inspectors are gone this year. Do you feel you have a stronger share of your market compared to last year?

Every inspector in SW MO who "left the building" has been replaced by two newbies. We actually have more inspectors in this part of the state than we did this time last year. Many of them belong to this association.

As they have introduced their usual "I'm a hungry newby...please let me experiment on your house" low rates....I raised my fees 15%, invested about $8K in training and equipment, added additional services....and am doing pretty good.

Next week, my state will actually initiate a program that will provide a rebate check to cover their fees to anyone using me for an energy audit (up to $500) and I am the only qualified auditor in this (and the nearest seven) counties.

Hard times shake off the loose branches. We should cherish them.

[Gary Farnsworth]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39867981...s-real_estate/


Wow. My post #2 is not far off. Link above is to an article out today on MSNBC.

Note:
"New home sales have risen 9 percent from the bottom in May but are still down 78 percent from their peak sales pace of nearly 1.4 million homes in July 2005. A healthy sales pace is around 800,000 new homes".

So far, October is very poor. Watch for really bad sales figures to be released in November.

[James H. Bushart]

Suffice it to say that we are moving in the right direction...but that we are not there yet.

[Nick Gromicko]

I'm no Obama fan but to be fair, we can't compare today against all-time peaks either.

[Nick Gromicko]

If the government really wanted to bring back the housing market with a roar, all they'd have to do is pass a law that prevents banks from harming your credit rating for walking without vindictively doing damage to the home. Everyone who was upside down or just wanted out could just turn in their keys. These homes would all go back on the market, prices would drop (to where they should have been), and everyone could buy something affordable again.