​Existing home sales come down off 10-year high

[Dustin Ruhl]

While there was a seasonal increase in home sales and inventory, the housing economy is still struggling compared to last year. The median home price, however, has steadily increased. This seems to be good news but makes the homes out of reach to many consumers. The supply of homes for sale is also low. It seems that while there is increase in prices and increase in foot traffic, the real estate economy will still take a while longer to recover. We are still suffering from the effects of the real estate bubble bursting. All of these statistics and metrics can be confusing and seemingly conflicting, but the overall message remains: the real estate market is making a comeback. Albeit a slow and uneven come back, it is a come back nevertheless. It will just take time for things to even out to get back to the steady increase in real estate values that we have seen historically. Investors take note, there are still deals and values to be had and investing in real estate is still a worthwhile venture. Stay tuned to see what real estate market gurus think will happen in the future. My prediction is the future is bright!

Key Takeaways:

• This indicator is thought to be a good measure of demand in the real-estate sector
• Higher prices are increasing equity for homeowners and might encourage some to put their homes on the market, but they could be hurting first-time buyers
• High inventory means smaller price increases and slightly higher sales, and less inventory means lower sales and somewhat larger price increases.

"Realtors are reporting stronger foot traffic from a year ago, but low supply in the affordable price range continues to be the pest that’s pushing up price growth and pressuring the budgets of prospective buyers."

Read more: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39642-existing-home-sales-come-down-off-10-year-high