US Home Sales Continue Climbing for the Fourth Month in a Row
US house sales (including single-family homes, and apartment condos and co-ops) registered a strong month over month increase of 7.2% ( on a seasonally adjusted basis) in July of 2009. Furthermore, the annual rate of sales, which reached 5.24 million units was 5% higher than its July 2009 level. According to NAR, this is the first time since November 2005 that home sales were higher than a year earlier. On an annual basis, home sales in all regions posted gains ranging from 1.8% in the West to 8% in the Midwest. In the Northeast and South home sales increased 3.3% and 5.4%, respectively, from their July 2009 levels. Sales increased in both the single-family housing market and the condo/co-op market in July 2009. However, condo/coop sales increased almost twice as fast as single-family home sales. In particular, condo/co-op sales increased 12.5% on a monthly basis while single-family home sales increased by 6.5%. On annual basis sales in the two housing market segments increased at about the same rate, 5% in the case of single-family homes and 5.9% in the case of condos/co-ops. The continuing increases in US home sales in combination with price increases are encouraging and strengthen the likelihood that we may have entered or are close to entering a period of sustainable growth in the US housing market. However, mortgage rates and the continuing improvement of the economy will play a crucial role in sustaining such trends.
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