Home Sale Decline - In the Nation
WASHINGTON (January 25, 2006) – Existing-home sales declined in December but easily set an annual record, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – were down 5.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 6.60 million units in December from an upwardly revised pace of 7.00 million in November. Sales were 3.1 percent lower than a 6.81 million-unit level in December 2004.
There were 7,072,000 existing-home sales in all of 2005, up 4.2 percent from 6,784,000 in 2004. This is the fifth consecutive annual record; NAR began tracking the sales series in 1968.
David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, expected the monthly sales decline. “This is part of the market adjustment we’ve been discussing, with a soft landing in sight for the housing sector,” he said. “The level of home sales activity is now at a sustainable level, and is likely to pick up a bit in the months ahead."
Cincinnati Change's job in region is to assemble a team to develop 20,000 homes in greater Cincinnati over the next decade with a initial five year focus on Hamilton County starting this year. Here some facts on Hamilton County and the hosuing market:
The total housing units in Hamilton County 373,393 for the 845,303 people who live here.
African Americans in Hamilton County occupied 79,409 housing units.
Owner-occupied housing units 207,591 or 59.9% of total vs an average of 66.2% nationally.
African Americans in Hamilton County had 27,414 owner-occupied housing units, less than 13.4%.
Renter-occupied housing units are 139,199 of total counter renter homes is 40.1% of all homes vs national average of 33.8%.
African Americans had 51,995 renter-occupied housing units, about 40%.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.27 percent in December, down from 6.33 percent in November; the rate was 5.75 percent in December 2004. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed rate was down to 6.10 percent.
“Mortgage interest rates have been trending down from a peak in November, and are lower than expected – if lower interest rates are sustained, the housing market could see some unexpected lift,” Lereah said.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $211,000 in December, up 10.5 percent from December 2004 when the median was $191,000. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
In Hamilton County the median value (in dollars) for African American homes was $84,700 while for whites it was $111,400, a difference of $26,700.
This means the 23,699 single-family owner-occupied homes owned by African Americans are valued in Hamilton County have $550,000,0000 less than value than their White counterparts.
View Existing Home Sales Data
Existing condominium and cooperative housing sales increased 1.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 877,000 units in December from a level of 863,000 in November. Last month’s sales activity was 4.5 percent higher than the 839,000-unit pace in December 2004. For all of 2005, condo sales jumped 9.3 percent to 896,000 units, the 10th consecutive annual record.
The median existing condo price was $228,100 in December, which was 10.2 percent above a year ago. In 2005, the median condo price was $218,200, up 12.7 percent from 2004.
Single-family home sales declined 6.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.72 million in December from 6.14 million in November, and were 4.2 percent lower than the 5.97 million-unit pace in December 2004. In 2005, single-family sales rose 3.6 percent to 6.18 million, the fifth straight yearly record.
The median existing single-family home price was $209,300 in December, which was 10.8 percent above a year ago. For 2005, the median single-family price was $207,300, up 12.6 percent from 2004.
In the Midwest, existing-home sales eased by 2.6 percent to an annual pace of 1.52 million in December, and were 1.9 percent below a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $173,000, which was 10.9 percent higher than December 2004.
