Existing-home sales grew in first quarter…or did they?
Sales of existing homes, including single-family homes and condos, rose 11.4 percent in the first quarter compared to the same quarter last year, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.14 million. Sales rose in 44 states and Washington, D.C., year over year in the first quarter. However, this is a fall of 14 percent from the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, attributed the quarter-to-quarter decline to a tax-credit-fueled sales surge during the fourth quarter.
Additionally, NAR reported the median price of single-family resale homes declined 8.3 percent regionally in the West and .8 percent in the Midwest, while it rose 9 percent in the Northeast and 1.1 percent in the South.
The top 10 states for existing-home sales growth in quarter one consecutively are Idaho, Hawaii, Florida, Vermont, Oregon, Washington, Maine, Illinois, New York and Maryland.
The top 10 states with existing home sales decline or slightest sales increase in quarter one consecutively are California, South Dakota, Virginia, Oklahoma, Alabama, Kansas, Georgia, Missouri, Minnesota and Colorado.
CLICK HERE for the NAR release.
—Kimberly Turner
