NAR: Daily Real Estate News: First-time Buyers Drive February Sales
According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), existing-home sales increased in February 2009 after a month of declining activity in January. In February, existing home sales increased 5.1 percent.Although this is positive news for the national housing market, sales figures indicate that we are still lagging behind February 2008 statistics (4.6 percent below February 2008 levels).
According to Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, first-time home buyers are the reason for the recent increase in existing home sales. According to Yun, first-time buyers represent nearly half of all home sales in February.
According to the NAR, there appears to be more buyers looking for homes in February than a year ago. Charles McMillan, NAR President, suggests that the combination of reasonable interest rates, affordable housing prices, and the $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit is the reason for the large number of buyers shopping for their next home.
My Thoughts
I am witnessing more and more activity within the downtown Milwaukee condo market in recent weeks. I anticipate that this trend will continue through the early weeks of summer. I also anticipate that existing home sales will increase at a faster pace as we approach August, September, and October. During this three-month period, we will witness all of the procrastinators who will jump into the real estate market shortly before the $8,000 tax credit expires.
For your information, the $8,000 tax credit applies for those transactions that close no later than December 1, 2009. Therefore, I am and will be encouraging all of my buyers to write their offers and have them accepted no later than the end of October. Most deals close within 25-30 days from the date of acceptance.
The NAR also provides statistics by region. How does the Midwest compare to the other regions? Click here to find out>>>
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Labels: Economy
posted by David Ray @ 9:28 PM
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