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REAL Trends - Housing Sales Up in January But at Slower Pace

By Missouri REALTORS posted 03-12-2015 11:23 AM

  

The REAL Trends Housing Market Report for January 2015 shows that housing sales increased 1.3 percent from the same month a year ago. The concerning note is that three of four regions reported unit sales had declined from a year ago.

The annual rate of new and existing home sales for January 2015 was 5.694 million units up from a rate of 5.623 million in January 2014.

Housing prices rose an average of 5.1 percent from January 2014, a significant increase from the average price change in December 2014. Price increases have now settled to a mid-single–digit growth rate for the past six months.


“The January housing data indicates that sales have entered a ‘slow but steady’ pace in both unit sales and average prices,” said Steve Murray, editor of the REAL Trends Housing Market Report. “Mortgage rates continue to be attractive and both employment and incomes are up from a year ago. The continued softness in housing price increases compared to a year ago allows household incomes to catch up and should lead to better affordability in coming months.”

Housing unit sales for January 2015 increased 5.8 percent in the South, the best performance in all regions. Northeast sales were down 3.8 percent, the Western region saw unit sales decrease by 0.7 percent, and the Midwestern region saw unit sales fall by 1.0 percent.

The average price of homes sold in January 2015 in the Western region increased by 8.7 percent, the best result in the nation. The Midwest region saw average prices increase 6.3 percent, average prices in the Southern region were up 6.1 percent, and the Northeast had an average price rise of 0.5 percent.

“As employment and incomes continue to improve housing sales should also continue to increase. All indicators at this time point to a continuation of the housing market rebound that started in the third quarter of 2011,” said Murray. 

REAL Trends January/ December Housing Market Report
(Versus same month a year ago)

                            January 2015        January 2015        December 2014        December 2014
                            Closed Sales         Average Price         Closed Sales             Average Price

National                   +1.3%                      +5.1%                      +8.7%                      +1.8%

Regional Report

Northeast                 -3.8%                       +0.5%                     +7.5%                       -2.6%

South                       +5.8%                       +6.1%                    +12.2%                     +4.4%

Midwest                    -1.0%                       +6.3%                     +5.9%                      +2.2%

West                         -0.7%                       +8.7%                     +6.2%                      +3.4%

  

​This article appeared in REAL Trends Newsletter and is being reprinted with permission of REAL Trends, Copyright 2015. 

 

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