Residential Builders

http://www.bigbuilderonline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=365&articleID=1126829

The soon-to-expire $8,000 federal tax credit for first-time homebuyers sent sales of existing homes soaring in October, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Sales of existing single family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops surged 10.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.10 million units in October from a downwardly revised pace of 5.54 million in September, up 23.5% from the same month last year. The NAR has not seen numbers like this since February 2007, when the annual pace was 6.55 million.

Regionally, the Northeast rose 11.6% to a pace of 1.06 million, up 27.7% from last October, with the median price falling 2.6% to $235,400 on an annual comparison. The Midwest was up 14.4% from September, 28.8% ahead of last October, with the median price up 1.1% to $146,600. The South was up 12.7% to 2.3 million, a year-over-year gain of 25.7%, with the median price down 6.3% to $151,100. The West was up 1.6% to 1.31 million, 12% above a year ago, and the median price was off 14.7% to $220,200.

Yun was optimistic regarding the impact of the newly enacted federal expanded home buyer tax credit, which will continue through April. "There is still a large pent-up demand that can be tapped before the tax credit expires," Yun said. "Our recent consumer survey further shows that 13% of successful first-time buyers had a previous contract that was cancelled or fell through--there likely are many more buyers who were attempting to purchase but simply ran out of time."

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