New Home Sales Dip, But Housing Stabilizing
Mortgage News from Quicken Loans
The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today that sales of new, single-family houses in October dipped 3.2 percent below September's numbers.
Bob Walters, chief economist of Quicken Loans, says despite the small decrease in sales, the housing market continues to stabilize itself on its way to another strong year.
"After two consecutive months of gains, new home sales showed a slight cooling off in October," said Walters. "However, long-term interest rates remain at their lows for the year, and the real estate market continues to favor the buyer, presenting opportunities for consumers to affordably purchase homes that were not within their budget only months ago."
Further evidence that the housing market is stabilizing can be found in yesterday's Existing Home Sales report, released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), that shows sales of previously owned homes were up 0.5 percent month over month in October. This was the first month over month increase since February.
"This is the best opportunity all year for a first-time home buyer or someone looking to upgrade their home to get into the market because the supply of homes currently exceeds the demand," said Walters. "People are going to get unprecedented deals, whether it's a lower purchase price, help with closing costs or special incentives such as free upgrades, because they're able to dictate the terms."
This article is reprinted by permission from Quicken Loans © 2006 Quicken Loans Inc. All rights reserved.
