Great news! The National Association of Realtors has announced that there has been an increase to home sales in December driven by sales from the western US!
Inventory is falling dramatically! Total inventory for the nation at the end of December fell 11.7% to 3.68 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.3-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 11.2-month supply in November. This is great news!
The increase in home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums etc – jumped 6.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.74 million units in December 2008 from a downwardly revised pace of 4.45 million units in November 2008. In fact, existing-home sales in the West jumped 13.6% to an annual rate of 1.25 million in December and are 31.6% higher than a year ago.
The increase in activity is obvious, housing affordability is at its best level since 1973. Rates are also at historic lows and if first time homebuyers have stable jobs and a long term housing plan they can really take advantage of the market. The luxury and custom end of the market, such as here in Malibu is holding up and there is a great turnover of property as people are taking advantage of the homes listed for sale.
If you are interested in purchasing a property or selling a property in Malibu, Pacific Palisades or the surrounding Beverly Hills/southern California area then please contact Judy Kunisaki for professional real estate advice in the Westside Los Angeles area, on 310-317-8396 or via her online contact form on her website.
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[...] National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index increased 3.2% to 84.6 from a level of 82.0 in February, and is 1.1% higher than March 2008 when it was 83.7. [...]