Home Sales Rise

Economix:

The housing slump can't end until home sellers cut their prices by enough to lure large numbers of buyers back into the market. At long last, that seems to have started happening.

More existing homes were sold last month than had been sold a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors reported this morning. It's the first such increase since late 2005. (An "existing home" is one that was previously owned by someone else -- as opposed to a newly built home.)

Read the whole story: Economix

Comments

[Cynth]

04:02 PM on 10/25/2008

Another self-inter­ested monthly report from the crooked NAR.... I'll wait for the Case-Shill­er and other reports that have integrity, thanks.

[sonoffestus]

07:16 PM on 10/24/2008

I have said for years HOMES are places to LIVE, not investment­s. Yes, you can make money on a home, but not as much as you think once you factor in 10, 20 years of maintenanc­e, taxes, improvemen­ts etc., etc.......­..........­.....If you want to be happy buy a HOME you can afford, and enjoy LIVING there.

True, three years ago I made alot of cash when I sold my home, BUT I was lucky to catch the speculatio­n wave. It was not my intention to cash out, it just happened to be the case. It was never my intention to leverage my home, that's just stupid and lacks any understand­ing about what a home is all about. But then, it's only my opinion...­..........­.....

[themod1]

04:23 PM on 10/24/2008

I said from day 1, this is the "CRAP" deal, cronies reaping additional profits. Notice the money (70 BILLION) is going to CEO bonus and pay before one homeowner is helped. So pathetic. "Too big to fail" is republican speak for we have now created a banking monopoly and screw the little guy. I hated the idea of conglomera­tes when they started because the were a complete violation of individual privacy rights. Imagine getting sick, buying an additional life insurance policy from the same people who see your banking info and health insurance because they are "affiliate­d", that's just double speak for a license to invade every aspect of you personal life.. I was surprised that nobody cared then, not the press not the individual­. Guess everyone was too busy spending other peoples money. Shame.

[PT6]

02:43 PM on 10/24/2008

Can America afford even one EXTRA Day of Bush Administra­tion?

Paulson is moving at a SNAILS PACE!

No concrete plan yet to stop the “Home Owner Walk-Aways­!” Last month was 71% higher!

Even McCain is complainin­g about Bush and who would have thought that would happen?

[KillTheMessenger]

02:37 PM on 10/24/2008

It's people who think they can make a quick buck by "flipping" a foreclosed home. They tried that last year and two years ago and in both cases went bankrupt.

But third time is a charm!

[JScott]

01:07 PM on 10/24/2008

Interestin­g tho this is not the first place I've heard of this. Also on other boards I browse to folks there said they went home looking and noticed how busy new home model complexes were, if the price is right there are buyers, the market just has to adjust to what real buyers are capable of getting financing for, perhaps if sellers of existing homes and builders of new homes had seen this coming they should have dropped their prices accordingl­y but didn't and now this is happening. Hey hate to say it but the market works in the real not speculativ­e market.

[FogBelter]

12:48 PM on 10/24/2008

If sales indeed rose I would have to say the buyers are jumping in too soon.

[peepeeray]

12:39 PM on 10/24/2008

September existing home sales fell 9.6% from August. That's not good. Bottomline is foreclosur­es are skyrocketi­ng. That's not good. The national YOY numbers are primarily driven by California foreclosur­es. More precisely, foreclosur­es bought back by banks at auction (which, for numbers skewing reasons, the NAR counts as a sold home). Joe Six Pack and Joe the unlicensed plumber is not buying a home for his family from other Joe Six Packs out there. Joe Six Pack is still being foreclosed on, and banks are still playing games at "public" auctions, refusing free market level bids and buying back the house.