With all of the gifts to buy and cookies to bake, home sales typically slow during the holidays. According to new data released by RE/MAX in their Monthly Housing Report, October home sales were 9% above October of 2010. The data encompasses 53 metropolitan areas. Experts expect to see further declines in the winter months, but say October was better than planned.
Foreclosure inventory has been falling for months and overall housing inventory dropped for the 16th straight month. Home prices continue to correct. “It appears that home sales are coming more closely in line with the levels we saw last year, which should hold up through the winter months,” said Margaret Kelly, CEO of RE/MAX, LLC in a news release. ”While it’s good to see sales still running higher than last year, at some point we would like to see prices rising higher than the previous year, as well.”
October sales were slower than September, which is a traditional seasonal trend. But a closer look reveals that they were about 9% higher than October of last year. So far in 2011, year-over-year transactions have risen for five of the ten months. The survey includes 53 metro areas and 38 have seen an increase in home sales from 2010. Some of those experiencing positive gains include Albuquerque, Minneapolis, Birmingham, Des Moines, Chicago, Providence and Raleigh-Durham. Median sales price of homes sold in October was $176,770 which is 2% lower than September and 5.4% lower than a year ago. The average Days on Market was 95 for October which is two days higher than September and four days higher than a year ago.
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