New-home sales see biggest jump in 47 years

[sabra]

Source: MSNBC/AP

Sales surge 27 percent, the strongest month since July

WASHINGTON - Sales of new homes surged 27 percent last month, bouncing off the previous month's record low and blowing past expectations as better weather and government incentives boosted sales.

The Commerce Department said Friday that new-home sales rose in March to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 411,000. It was the strongest month since last July and the biggest monthly increase in 47 years.

Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected a sales pace of 330,000. February's results were revised upward to 324,000, but remained an all-time low. Sales had been especially weak over the winter, partly due to bad weather in much of the country.

The median sales price was $214,000, up more than 4 percent from a year earlier but down more than 3 percent from February.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36735173/ns/business-real_estate/

[NoodleyAppendage]

1. An artifact of people trying to purchase before the $8000 tax credit dries up. n/t

J

[unc70]

3. That plus the weather improved

The previous month's weather was just horrible, making it nearly impossible to complete construction. When the weather improved, there was a huge rush to complete houses that were "late".

[DCBob]

4. But i guess going up is better than going down.. even if an "artifact".

right?

[onenote]

10. not according to some experts

According to some analysts, the tax credit had a negligible impact.
http://www.usatoday.com/MONEY/usaedition/2010-04-22-home-sales_NU.htm?csp=34

[Tarheel_Dem]

2. I don't think I'm gonna make the April 30th deadline, and it's totally my fault.

I dragged my feet on a short sale property, and they're dragging their feet even more than me. Fingers crossed. Enough about me, but this is good news for the economy, and congratulations to all the new homeowners.

[Roland99]

5. I made the April 30 purchase agreement date. It's the June 30 closing date that has me concerned.

[Tarheel_Dem]

13. Congrats Roland, and my fingers are crossed that you'll make the 6/30 closing. (nt)

[notadmblnd]

7. I put an offer in on a short sale on Jun 29, 2009

I didn't get an answer from the bank until after Christmas. I closed Jan 8th 2010.Just so you have an idea of how long the process can take, and that's with constantly calling the bank and pushing them to get through the process.

[Tarheel_Dem]

12. My realtor explained that to me YESTERDAY (lol). Is there some logical reason

why short sales take this long? I guess the banks aren't as motivated to sell as an individual might be? It really sucks. It was mid March when we made the offer, and we don't appear any closer to being under contract by next Friday than when we started. I really want this house though, so I might just forego the tax credit, considering the asking price.

[notadmblnd]

14. near as I can figure, is, it sits on one persons desk for a month.

Then it gets moved to another persons desk till you call, then it gets moved to someone else's desk and so on and so on.. until they finally get tired of you calling and make a decision just when you're ready to forget the whole thing.

But seriously, no one person takes care of the entire offer, it truly gets passed from one person to the next, who have a whole pile of others just like yours on their desk. Other than that, I got no valid reason for the holdup.

[flvegan]

18. Sometimes it's not just the one bank causing the delay.

A short sale may involve getting a secondary lender or creditor to buy into the deal. So you're negotiating with a bank that's negotiating with another bank, or the IRS, or...? That's just certain cases, though.

I've never understood the secondary lender not jumping at even $1k consideration for signing off. They have a choice, getting $1k in 10 days or getting absolutely nothing by being wiped out in the foreclosure.

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. You guys are so smart. The agent told me she hates dealing with SS's....

because they frustrate everyone involved.

[AngryAmish]

6. fallacy of the second derivative

[girl gone mad]

11. shhhh.

They really need this "win".

http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2010/04/home-sales-distressing-gap.html

[ShortnFiery]

15. kill-joy!

;)

[northernlights]

8. April 30th not helping me

Dropped my price dramatically last month. Still not one person to come see it.

I have no idea how many people the last realtor didn't bother to respond to last summer :grr: other than the ones that stopped by and told me she never returned their calls. :grr: :grr: :grr:

[TwilightGardener]

20. Have you got yourself a new realtor? That really sucks.

[northernlights]

21. yes. but nothing is happening there, either

he said a few weeks ago he'd gotten a number of calls. Since nobody had come to see it, I knocked another $15K off the price. At this price I'd be losing about 1/3 or more of what I put into it, not including the blood sweat and tears...

[valerief]

9. So the really rich people betting the mortgages will fail will get even richer in the next crash. nt

[ShortnFiery]

16. ...

[Kingofalldems]

17. K and R for the teabaggers and freepers

[KillCapitalism]

22. I don't see this continuing with prices going up.

"The median sales price was $214,000, up more than 4 percent from a year earlier but down more than 3 percent from February."

You really need an income of around $85,000/yr. to be able to "safely" afford a mortgage like that. How many people have an income like that in this economy? Not many.