Even though the National Association of Realtors announced this month that it has noticed a 1.0 percent drop in existing home sales last month, many real estate experts say that this probably won’t affect the overall growth the housing market has witnessed in the past few months.
What’s the reason for the sudden drop in sales? Some say it’s likely because many Americans are holding back from putting their homes on the market because they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are actually worth. As tempting as short sales were before the fiscal cliff, many home owners decided to wait out the coming New Year to see if the government could come to a consensus that wouldn’t drive the housing prices lower than they already were.
Some people have also become alarmed by the reports that the inventory of existing homes for sale dropped 8.5 percent in November and that at its current rate, the inventory will be completely exhausted in approximately 4.4 months. Despite these concerns from people across the nation, including many here in Michigan, real estate experts throughout the country say that this dip will not have a large enough impact to suggest that the housing market recovery is running out of steam.
In fact, many experts our saying 2013 could become the best year people looking to sell their homes and get a return on their investment in the process. With the median price for a home resale on the rise nationwide, up 11.5 percent from the previous year, experts are saying that homeowners could finally see real estate transactions that don’t leave the seller feeling like they lost on the deal. And with the economy slowing on the rebound, more families are looking to buy homes again which could encourage further growth in a market desperately in need of returning to normality.
Source: Reuters News, “Home resales unexpectedly fell in December, but the drop was not large enough to suggest the recovery in the housing sector is running out of steam,” Jason Lange, Jan. 22, 2013
