To anyone holding a half-full glass and with rose-tinted spectacles firmly in place on their face, the latest batch of real estate data has brought them back to reality with a sharp bump.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) dampened the spirits on Thursday morning, with the news that sales of existing U.S. homes fell by 2.7% in August to an annual rate of 5.1 million.
And thus, the streak of four straight months of rising sales came to an end. Although given the fragile, stumbling recovery of the housing market, that’s akin to Cal Ripken’s consecutive games played streak for the Baltimore Orioles.
As for prices, they’re still stuck in reverse, too. The average price is currently $177,000 – about 12.5% lower than this time last year. And it’s no surprise to see repossessed homes sucking the overall market down. Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the NAR, says they’re selling for 15% to 20% less than non-repossessed homes.
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