The Stats are Where It’s At Now!

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Beth's Blog | 0 comments

Here’s a market recap for January 2021 regarding new home sales, pending home sales, existing home sales and housing starts all wrapped up into one! The stats are where it’s at now! This information is from the National Association of Realtors and the US Census Bureau.

Please feel free to click on the links for more information. Please let me know if these types of statistics are of interest to you in the comments!

As we mentioned in recent blogs, inventory is low and it’s not surprising new home sales rose 4.3% in January to a 923,000 annual rate. This second consecutive month of gains took sales 19.3% ahead of last year, while inventories grew by 8,000 units. As mentioned previously, builders are making an effort to boost the low inventory. Unfortunately, frozen ground in much of the U.S. sent housing starts down 6.0% in January, after four straight monthly gains, including December’s 14-year high.  

In spite of hitting an all-time high for January, the pending home sales index of contracts on existing homes slid 2.8% below December. But it’s up 13% over last year, in all four geographic regions showing annual increases. The monthly decline was from “simply not enough homes to match the demand,” according to the National Association of Realtors chief economist, but he forecasts “a natural seasonal upswing in inventory in spring and summer.”

And, also, in January existing home sales edged up to a 6.690 million annual rate, every major region posting 20%+ gains the past year. 71% of homes flew off the market in less than a month, dropping inventories 25.7% below last year.

The future looks bright! The stats are where it’s at right now! Building Permits rose 10.4% in January, to a 1.881 million annual rate, up 22.5% from a year ago, to the highest level since 2006. NAHB builder sentiment moved up in February, approaching its record high.

Stay tuned for more market updates each month!

 

Beth Brake REALTOR®

Positively changing your life as you move forward to your dreams.

214-769-2947