Existing Home Sales Post Unexpected Gains

From today's SFGate...

Sales of existing homes unexpectedly rose last month as a warmer than usual winter boosted demand in many parts of the country, but a slack demand in some areas produced what one analyst called a "tale of two cities."

The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that that sales of existing single-family homes and condomiums rose by 5.2 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.91 million units.

The Realtors have been forecasting that sales of previously owned homes would fall by about 5 percent this year compared to last year's record pace. But Lereah said he may have to revise that forecast given the unexpected strength in February.

By region of the country, sales rose by 19.2 percent in the Northeast and were up 11.1 percent in the Midwest and 5.1 percent in the West in February. Only the South showed weakness last month with sales there dropping by 2.5 percent from the January pace.

As you all know, I'm not one to post national stories very often, but this one came as a surprise to almost everyone.

The market in San Francisco is quite strong right now, and I would attribute any slowness to media hype, and not to rising interest rates. There are some great opportunities out there for buyers, while at the same time there are a surprising number of properties selling with multiple offers and over-asking. In our Zephyr sales meeting yesterday, more than 50% of reported sales were over-asking...

This is definitely not 2005 all over again, and we may see things slow again as the traditionally heavier summer inventory comes onto the market, but as I keep saying, this is a very good, balanced market right now.

Housing crash experts WRONG again [Inman Blog]