Tuesday, April 11, 2006

New Home Sales

New home sales are up and down. Builders have a half full or half empty glass, which probably means that things are getting back to normal.



New home sales in the Capital Region for the first quarter are down 57 percent from the first quarter of 2005. But first quarter sales are also up 33 percent from the last quarter of 2005. According to the Folsom based market research firm the Gregory Group, that makes a good living keeping track of such number, 2,800 new homes were sold during the first three months of 2006.



The increase in the number of sales was good news to the building industry but the median price isn’t moving in any direction. The net median price in the region for a new home after incentives and discounts ended up at $484,000 for the quarter only $1,500 higher than last year.



A new home is taking about 12 weeks to sell and unsold available inventory has increased consistently for four quarters. This was the first quarter in a year that sales increased.



“This market is in transition from a robust one to a more normal one,” said Greg Paquin, president of the Gregory Group.



Builders have more competition this year than in the past, which is slowing sales and cutting profits. There are increased number of almost new residential resales units available. Many investors and flippers who purchased a new home a year or two ago are now turning them over. Total available residential resale units in the region has increased from 3,000 homes in March of 2005 to 10,000 last month. Much of the increasd resale inventory is under 3 years old.


Have a great day!

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