While sales of traditional homes have gone up of late, sales of
brand new homes have far and away excelled. Many of our recent blog
posts relate very well to this topic. It was just in June when it
was shared that housing starts were up in
June, probably showing why these sales of new homes in August
have done so well. Also in June, the construction industry as a
whole realized its third straight increasing
month in total spending. Here in Massachusetts, we learned that
single-family home sales
were up 20% in August while across the country there was an
increase in median prices
as well by 9% in August of 2012 compared to the prior year, now
up to $187,400.
Comparatively, new homes across the nation showed a large 11.2%
increase in their median prices in August over July, now to
$256,000. This, the highest improvement since March of 2007 is an
astounding accomplishment and shows that a strong turnaround in the
Real Estate market is certainly on its way if it is not already
here. These results from August also are an even more impressive
17% increase over August of 2011s numbers for the sold prices of
new homes.
New homes that were sold for $400,000 or more saw a boost as
well leaving experts to draw some interesting conclusions. David
Crowe, the Chief Economist at the National Association of Home
Builders, noted that, This reflects the fact that people who are
able to buy homes right now are those in higher-income ranges who
have cash and equity on hand, while first-time buyers are having a
tougher time getting qualified for a mortgage.” This has all
occurred with the inventory of homes still remaining at record low
levels.
Looking to the different regions throughout the country, here in
the Northeast there has been the most significant ascending of new
home sales by a lofty 20%. The Midwest saw an increase of 1.8%, the
West went up by 0.9%, however they declined in the South by 4.9% in
August. Barry Rutenberg, the NAHB Chairman, also was quoted with
some insight by reacting to these numbers, New-home sales in August
effectively tied the pace they set in the previous month, when they
were the strongest we’ve seen in more than two years so this is
really a continuation of the good news we’ve been getting on the
housing front. Looking at the big picture, sales have been trending
gradually upward since the middle of last year as favorable
interest rates and prices have driven more consumers to get back in
the market for a newly built home.” Need more proof that now is a
good time to enter the market, especially here in our Massachusetts
region of the flourishing Northeast?
More Information: Realtor.org