{"id":2880,"date":"2014-09-22T09:12:02","date_gmt":"2014-09-22T16:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realuoso.com\/?p=2880"},"modified":"2015-07-22T19:22:19","modified_gmt":"2015-07-23T02:22:19","slug":"completed-transactions-dip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/big-data\/completed-transactions-dip\/","title":{"rendered":"Completed transactions dip in August as investors retreat"},"content":{"rendered":"

Existing home sales (completed transactions) fell in August, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) which points to a significant drop in all-cash sales by investors as the culprit. <\/p>\n

After four months in a row of improving sales numbers, investors pulling out of the market is disappointing, but sales activity was uneven nationally, with a spike in the Midwest and Northeast, pulled down by declines in the West and South. <\/p>\n

Total existing home sales dropped 1.8 percent in August, and 5.3 percent from August 2013, but are at the second highest pace of the year. <\/p>\n

The silver lining<\/h3>\n

Dr. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist notes, \u201cThere was a marked decline in all-cash sales from investors. On the positive side, first-time buyers have a better chance of purchasing a home now that bidding wars are receding and supply constraints have significantly eased in many parts of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Yun adds, \u201cAs long as solid job growth continues, wages should eventually pick up to steadily improve purchasing power and help fully release the pent-up demand for buying.\u201d<\/p>\n

NAR President Steve Brown, says a gradual decline in investor activity, many who pay in cash, is good for the market and creates more opportunity for buyers who rely on financing to purchase a home. <\/p>\n

Regarding mortgage financing, Brown adds, \u201cRealtors applaud the recent policy change to eliminate post-payment interest charges on FHA-insured single-family mortgages. The prepayment penalty placed an unfair and unreasonable burden on consumers who already face high housing and closing costs.\u201d<\/p>\n

More highlights from NAR’s report<\/h3>\n

In August, NAR reports the following:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The median existing home price was $219,800 (4.8 percent above August 2013).<\/li>\n
  2. Housing inventory dipped 1.7 percent, with a 5.5-month supply (4.5 percent above August 2013).<\/li>\n
  3. All-cash sales were 23 percent of all transactions (lowest share since December 2009).<\/li>\n
  4. Individual investors accounted for 12 percent of homes purchased (down from 17 percent in August 2013).<\/li>\n
  5. First-time buyers remain unchanged at 29 percent of purchases in August.<\/li>\n
  6. Distressed homes accounted for eight percent of sales (down from 12 percent in August 2013).<\/li>\n
  7. Foreclosures represented six percent, and short sales two percent of sales in August.<\/li>\n
  8. Average days on market hit 53 (up from 48 days in July, 43 in August 2013).<\/li>\n
  9. Short sales were on the market for a median of 135 days.<\/li>\n
  10. Foreclosures sat on the market for a median of 53 days, non-distressed homes sold in 52.<\/li>\n
  11. Fully 40 percent of homes listed sold in under 30 days.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Regional performance varied<\/h3>\n

    In August, existing home sales:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Rose in the Northeast 4.7 percent, but remain 4.3 percent below a year ago. The median price was $265,800, 0.8 percent lower than a year ago.<\/li>\n
    • Rose in the Midwest 2.5 percent, but remain 3.9 percent below August 2013. The median price in the Midwest was $173,800, up 5.9 percent from a year ago.<\/li>\n
    • Fell 4.2 percent, and are now down 4.2 percent from August 2013. The median price in the South was $186,700, up 4.7 percent from a year ago.<\/li>\n
    • Fell 5.1 percent in the West, and are 9.8 percent below a year ago. The median price in the West was $301,900, which is 5.4 percent above August 2013.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Completed transactions fell in August, but the housing recovery isn’t exactly equal as some parts of the nation thrive while others stutter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":335938,"featured_media":2852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[99,474,100,327],"class_list":["post-2880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-big-data","tag-breaking-news","tag-completed-transactions","tag-hot-stories","tag-housing"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2014\/09\/open-house.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/335938"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2880"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4622,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2880\/revisions\/4622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theamericangenius.com\/housing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}