Tuesday, November 28, 2017

U.S. home sales surge as inventory plunges

Sarasota Herald Tribune

Americans bought new homes in October at the fastest pace in a decade — a 6.2 percent monthly increase that reflects both the underlying strength of the economy and the worsening shortage of existing homes for sale.
The Commerce Department said Monday that new-home sales last month rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000. That marks the third straight monthly gain and the best sales clip since October 2007. Much of the sales growth came from the Northeast and Midwest, with the South and West posting smaller increases.
According to the October 2017 housing data released last week by the Florida Realtors organization, sales, median prices, new listings and new pending sales rose even as the inventory of for-sale properties remained constrained in many areas. Sales of single-family homes statewide totaled 20,543 last month, up 2 percent compared to October 2016.
Across the country, the number of sales listings for existing homes tumbled 10.4 percent from a year earlier to just 1.8 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. That’s the fewest number of homes on the market for any October since the Realtors began tracking the data in 1999.
New construction can only offset some of this supply crunch.
There is only 4.9 months’ supply of newly-built homes on the market, the lowest reading since July 2016.
In the Sunshine State, October’s for-sale inventory remained tight with a 3.8-months’ supply for single-family homes and a 5.6-months’ supply for condo-townhouse properties, according to Florida Realtors.
Locally, inventory for single family homes in Manatee County increased by 3.3 percent from last year, while Sarasota decreased by 4.4 percent. Condo inventory improved with a 2.9 percent increase in Sarasota and 0.7 percent increase in Manatee.
The month’s supply of inventory is indicated by the number of months it will take to deplete the current inventory, given the recent sales rates. For Sarasota County, condos are at a 4.9 month supply and single family homes are at a 3.9 months supply. In Manatee County, condos are a 4.1 month supply, while single family homes sit at 4.2 months.

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