HOME SALES DATA FROM NAR RELEASED:

While home sales in January slowed, home sales are still way above January 2009 levels!

Nationwide existing home sales dropped 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.05 million units in January from a revised 5.44 million in December, but remain 11.5% above the 4.53 million-unit level in January 2009.

As expected it is the delay between shopping for a home and closing on a home that has caused the slight drop.

However, more excitingly again is the news that the level of inventory fell again, this time by 0.5% to 3.27 million existing homes for sale which represents a 7.8 month supply at the current sales pace. Raw unsold inventory is 9.6% below a year ago and is the lowest since March 2006!

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $164,700 in January, unchanged from a year earlier. Distressed homes, which accounted for 38 percent of sales last month, continue to downwardly distort the median price because they typically are discounted in comparison with traditional homes in the same area. Also, it was noted that first time homebuyers represented 40% of home sales in January while investors accounted for 17% of sales. Buyers shopping for homes also increased 9.4%. Regionally, here in the midwest home sales only declined 6.9% but are 8% higher than January 2009.

Here is a breakdown of Lake and Porter counties:

Lake County existing single-family home sales

January 2010: 188

January 2009: 203

Change: down 7.4 percent

Porter County existing single-family home sales

January 2010: 60

January 2009: 63

With rates still around the 5% range it is no surprise that an increase in home sales is expected!

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