Although home sales have increased from the previous months, they are still down from a year ago. In the housing market, supply still far outweighs demand. Foreclosures are evident and the credit score to get a conventional mortgage has risen. First-time buyers purchased 33% of homes in March, down from 44% in March 2010.
4 comments:
Obviously we have been told and it is obvious now is the time to buy. I do not think a "recovery" in the home prices will occur, this burst was a price correction.
Nice insight Jack Hall, i agree. Some states have seen modest recoveries, but nothing near the levels that they were pre-2008. Meanwhile, tons of states (florida, Nevada, etc) are seeing no recovery and even some month/month declines.
As Jack points out, this is the season to buy. So while it is good to see an increase from February to March, it is likely the cause of us moving into the home-buying season.
I think comparisons of March 2011 numbers to higher March 2010 numbers are overplayed. Some first home-buyer tax credit provisions were in place for people buying homes in March 2010. That could explain the higher rate of sales last year.
I agree with Scott, the first home-buyer tax credit provisions were in place but the tax credit was maxed up to $8,000 I believe, but that shouldn't have had a huge impact on higher home sales growth last year compared to this year. I think the home sales could be higher only if the banks could actually not become reluctant to loan out the credit to people that can actually pay back rather than defaulting out on the banks. But still, it is the lifetime opportunity to buy a house for many people.
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