Existing home sales fell -2.2% MoM (consensus -1%) in December. For 2007 as a whole, existing home sales fell -23.2% YoY. In 2006, existing home sales fell -8% YoY. Homes available for sale fell -7.4% MoM in December to 9.6 months supply. This is down from the recent peak in supply, but probably reflects homeowners voluntarily taking their homes off of the market during the slow holiday period.
It appears that 2007 saw the largest annual home price declines since the Depression in the 1930s. Data in the report shows the median price of single family homes falling -6% YoY to $208,400, and the average price for existing homes falling -4.9% YoY to $254,900. Single family home prices have declined 3-4 times more than condo prices. The median price for single family homes fell -6.5% YoY while condos only fell -2.5% YoY.
By region, sales fell the most last month in the Northeast (-2.2% MoM), followed closely by the West (-2.1% MoM), then the Midwest at -1.7% MoM and then the South at -1% MoM. Over the past year, the West saw the largest decline in sales at -28.3% YoY with the other three regions clustering around a 22% YoY drop.
Single family home sales fell -2% MoM (-21.6% YoY) while condos fell -3.3% MoM (-24.5% YoY). The months' supply of condos remains elevated at 12.1 months, while single family is at 9.2 months. Both are down from peaks in October of 10.4 months for single family and 12.8 months supply for condos. The actual number of homes on the market fell to the lowest level since last March.
By comparison, new home sales fell -9% MoM in November to a new 12 year low. New home sales now account for only 12% of the total home sale market, down from 15% during the housing boom.
Home sales are expected to remain weak, even as 30 year fixed rate mortgages fall to their lowest interest rate since 2005, on fears of continued home price declines and tight credit conditions. Inventories remain quite high.
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