Housing Sales

February Housing Sales up from January Levels but..

by Petros S. Sivitanides, Ph.D.

The National Association of Realtors reports that housing sales increased in February of 2007 compared to January (based on seasonally adjusted data) in all regions, but the West. As the table below shows, sales in the Northeast jumped by 14.2%, far outpacing increases in the Midwest and the South (3.9% and 1.6%, respectively). Housing sales in February in the West remained at the same (seasonally adjusted) levels recorded in January.

February Housing Statistics

	U.S.	Northeast	Midwest	South	West
Number of Units Sold Seasonally Adjusted Change from February 2006	3.9%	14.2%	3.9%	1.6%	0.0%
Number of Units Sold Change from February 2006	-3.6%	3.4%	-1.9%	-4.4%	-9.6%
Median Sales Price Change from February 2006	-1.3%	-1.4%	-1.3%	-2.9%	2.2%
Source: National Association of Realtors

Despite the monthly increase in housing sales in February, the volume of sales was still below the levels recorded in January of 2006 in all regions except the Northeast. The largest year-over-year percentage decrease occurred in the West (-9.6%) followed by the South (-4.4%). In the Northeast, housing sales were actually up by 3.4% from February 2006 levels.

Given these developments, it is not surprising that median housing sales prices decreased on a year-over-year basis in most regions. It is worth noting that median housing sales prices in the West rose by 2.2%, despite a 9.6% decrease in the number of units sold. This pattern though fits the conventional economic scenario of declining demand and sales in the face of rising prices. The largest year-over-year median housing price decline was registered in the South. Median housing sales prices declined in the Northeast too by 1.4%, despite the increasing volume of sales compared to a year ago. This pattern fits the conventional economic scenario of rising demand in the face of declining prices.

According to the data provided by the National Association of Realtors, we see similar trends if housing sales are broken by type of unit, that is, single-family vs. condo/co-op. Condo/co-op seasonally adjusted sales in February climbed faster than single-family unit sales (5.3% vs 3.7%) from last January levels. However, on a year-over-year basis single-family unit sales declined by 3.4% while condo/co-op sales declined by 5.2%.

In terms of year-over-year changes in median sales prices, condo/co-op prices rose minimally (0.5%) while single-family median sales prices declined by 1.5%.

February Housing Statistics by Type of Unit

February Housing Statistics by Type of Unit

	Existing Home Sales	Single Family Sales	Condo/Co-op Sales
Number of Units Sold Seasonally Adjusted Change from February 2006	3.9%	3.7%	5.3%
Number of Units Sold Change from February 2006	-3.6%	-3.4%	-5.2%
Median Sales Price Change from February 2006	-1.3%	-1.5%	0.5%
Source: National Association of Realtors

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