Market-Conditions

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20060622000118/http://georgiahomes-online.com:80/Market-Conditions.html

REALTOR-Hiawassee

Free Newsletter

	Featured Listings

Featured Properties

	Find a Property

Dream-Home-Finder

	Free Reports

	Georgia Mountain Property

North-Georgia-Cabins

North-Georgia-Homes

North-Georgia-Land

Lake-Chatuge-Condo's

	Western North Carolina Property

North-Carolina-Cabins

North-Carolina-Homes

	Mortgage Info

Home Equity Loan

Mortgage Payment Calculator

Monthly Payment Calculator

Payment Option Arm Calculator

Credit Grade Calculator

	Resources

Market-Conditions

Imperfect Credit?

	Important Pages

MARKET CONDITIONS BRIEFS

Pending Home Sales Leveling Out, Market Balancing

Pending home sales are showing signs of leveling out, indicating that the housing market is stabilizing. The Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in February, slipped 0.8 percent to 117.7 and is 5.2 percent below February 2005. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said most of the cooling in the housing market has already occurred, and a historically strong market can be expected moving forward.

Existing-Home Sales Up in February

Existing-home rose in February following five months of decline. Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – increased 5.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.91 million units in February This was 0.3 percent below a year earlier. NAR analysts attributed some of the gain to mild weather.

Housing To Stay on High Plateau

Home sales should generally level-out and remain at historically high levels, according to NAR forecasters. Economic growth and job creation are providing a favorable backdrop for the housing market, but rising interest rates have an offsetting effect, they said. Home sales will move up and down somewhat over the remainder of the year but still come up as the third strongest year on record. NAR expects the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to rise to 6.9 percent by December.

UP AND COMING

Vacation- and Investment-Home Sales at Record Levels

Nearly 40 percent of all existing-home sales last year went to buyers of second homes. The annual report shows that 27.7 percent of all homes purchased in 2005 were for investment and another 12.2 percent were vacation homes. All together, the market share of second homes rose from 36.0 percent in 2004 to 39.9 percent in 2005. NAR Chief Economist David Lereah said the baby boom generation is driving second-home sales. Baby boomers are at the point in life when they want to diversify investments, they’re at the peak of their earnings and interest rates remain historically low, Lereah said.

Who's Going Back for Seconds?!

So, who are all those second-home owners, anyway? Find out in NAR’s 2006 Profile of Second-Home Owners, due to come out next month. Among the interesting factoids you'll learn are that the typical vacation home is 220 miles from the owner's primary residence and typical owners spent almost 40 nights in their vacation homes last year. Let's hope it didn't rain the entire time, Noah!

�

Report compiled by NAR's Research Division.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS�
500 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001-2020
800/874-6500
www.REALTOR.org

:: Featured Properties :: Dream-Home-Finder :: Search-the-MLS :: Free Reports :: North-Georgia-Cabins :: North-Georgia-Homes :: North-Georgia-Land :: Lake-Chatuge-Condo's :: North-Carolina-Cabins :: North-Carolina-Homes :: Mortgage Rates :: Loan Programs :: Home Equity Loan :: Mortgage Payment Calculator :: Monthly Payment Calculator :: Payment Option Arm Calculator :: Credit Grade Calculator :: ARM Loans :: Pre-Qualify :: Calculators :: Talking House :: Market-Conditions :: Links :: Glossary :: Library :: News :: Schools :: Weather :: Imperfect Credit? :: Credit Report :: Be a Savvy Buyer :: Link Exchange :: Who is Doug? :: Privacy Policy ::

Doug is a REALTOR in good standing and is a Member of the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) - Georgia Association of Realtors® (GAR) - Northeast Georgia Board of Realtors® (NEGBR)

Doug Kelly is a licensed real estate salesperson, GA Lic# 29576 and a Broker in NC Lic#236948
Doug works with Exit Realty Mountain Properties, Hiawassee GA

Copyright © 2005-2006, GeorgiaHomes-Online.com and Doug Kelly, REALTOR® Hiawassee GA. All Rights Reserved.

Equal Housing Opportunity REALTOR�

Copyright^© 1995-2006 Myers Internet, Inc.

Powered by: Myers Internet, Inc. | Admin Login