Home sales forecast lowered
Home sales for the remainder of 2006 are looking low, an industry group reported today.
The National Association of Realtors is predicting that actual home sales won't meet projections during the next few months. The market is saturated, and sellers are finding themselves negotiating more often in a slowing market, David Lereah, the association's chief economist, said in a report on the group's Web site.
"This is a normal patter during a market correction, but home prices should return to positive territory within a few months and annual appreciate will be slower than historic norms," Lereah said in the report.
Data from the realtors after the jump ...
* The national median existing-home price is expected to grow 2.8 percent this year, to $225,900.
* The median price for a new home will go up 0.2 percent, to $241,400.
* Sales of existing homes could fall 7.6 percent to 6.54 million this year.
* Sales of new homes could fall 16.1 percent - to 1.08 million.
* The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is likely to rise to 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter.