Print |
E-mail to a friend
BUSINESS
Survey shows sales of existing homes picking up
Huntington was one of a handful of cities that saw home prices increase over last year, according to a national survey released Monday, that showed sale of existing homes picking up, as buyers snapped up deeply discounted properties.
The National Association of Realtors reported Monday that sales rose 3.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million units, up from June's downwardly revised rate of 4.85 million units. Sales had been expected to rise by only 1.6 percent, according to economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR.
"The process of a recovery has begun," said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors. "It's not going to be short and swift, but it's begun nonetheless."
However, the number of unsold properties hit an all-time high, the latest indication that the worst housing slump in decades is far from over.
Home sales were about 13 percent lower than a year ago and prices were down dramatically. The median price for a home sold in July dropped to $212,000, down by 7.1 percent from a year ago.
But proving again how real estate is local, The Associated Press-Re/Max Housing Report released Monday found that median home prices rose in six of the 21 Southern cities tracked. Home prices rose 9 percent in Huntington, for example, and in New Orleans and Little Rock, Ark., the median price was up more than 5 percent compared to July last year.
On the other end of the spectrum, home prices fell more than 15 percent in Orlando and Tampa, Fla., and Washington, D.C. The AP-Re/Max report analyzed home sales recorded by all real estate agents in those cities, regardless of company affiliation.
"The best thing people can do is sell the house fast," said Pam Mayers, an agent with Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors in Miami. "You need it on a million Web sites, People need to ask their agent, 'Are you advertising? Where are you putting it?"'
