NAR Projects Increased Existing-Home Sales

Phil Hall

May 21, 2018

The housing markets in 21 of the nation’s largest 35 metros have more than recovered from the 2008 economic meltdown, according to a new data analysis from Zillow

Existing-home sales will end 2018 at around 5.6 million, a 1.8 percent increase from 2017, and will rise to 5.7 million in 2019, according to a forecast from Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Speaking at the trade group’s 2018 Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, said the numbers would be more robust if housing inventory had not been so anemic. Yun noted total housing inventory reached 1.67 million existing-homes available for sale at the end of the first quarter, which is 7.2 percent lower than a year ago (1.80 million). Inventory has trending lower for the last five years and shows no immediate signs of upward motion.

“Challenging affordability conditions have prevented a meaningful rise in the homeownership rate after having fallen to a 50-year low a few years ago,” said Yun. “To increase homeownership, more home construction is needed, which could be boosted by delivering regulatory relief to community banks, removing the lumber tariff, re-examining stringent zoning laws and training more workers for the construction industry.”

Link copied

Published

May 21, 2018

Analysis and Data

Resilient Labor Market Adds 339K Jobs In May

Despite 15% increase in new jobs from April, unemployment rate rises to 3.7%.

The U.S. labor market continues to defy efforts to slow the economy, adding a surprising 339,000 jobs in May, nearly double the expectations of economists, the government said Friday. Despite the biggest increase in employment since January, the unemployment rate rose by 3 ...

Regulation and Compliance

6 Federal Agencies Seek Comment On Proposed Rule For AVMs

The rule is intended to ensure the credibility and integrity of Automated Valuation Models.

Six federal regulatory agencies on Thursday requested public comment on a proposed rule designed to ensure the credibility and integrity of models used in automated real estate valuations.  The proposed rule would implement quality control standards for automated valua...