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QUOTE OF
THE WEEK... "You have to trust in
something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never
let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life." --Steve
Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Inc.
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... All of us working in the housing market have long trusted that real estate was destined to recover, and signs of that continue to abound. September saw Existing Home Sales head up 2.4%, to a very healthy 5.17 million unit annual rate. They've gained now in five of the last six months and are at their highest annual pace of the year. Sales are still off a bit compared to a year ago, but other data is up. The median price is up 5.6% and average prices are up 3.7% versus last year. This should bring more homes onto the market to help inventories, which are still up 6% from a year ago. Sales in which the buyer uses a mortgage are up 11.5% versus last year.
New Home Sales were also up in September, but only by 0.2%. Some media reported this as a "stall-out" in sales gains. But 0.2% more sales are in fact a greater number of sales, so nothing has "stalled out." More importantly, new home sales are now up 17.0% from a year ago and are at their highest level in more than six years. By the way, buyers have shifted slightly to multi-family homes (condos), which are not counted in the new home sales data. The FHFA index of prices for homes financed with conforming mortgages gained 0.5% in August, up 4.8% from a year ago. Prices are increasing, though at a gentler pace, which is not a bad thing.
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK...When you hit that afternoon lull, take a nap. Experts say a 26-minute nap can increase your performance by 34%. Even if you don't sleep, you get the benefit from being horizontal and quiet.
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... All of us working in the housing market have long trusted that real estate was destined to recover, and signs of that continue to abound. September saw Existing Home Sales head up 2.4%, to a very healthy 5.17 million unit annual rate. They've gained now in five of the last six months and are at their highest annual pace of the year. Sales are still off a bit compared to a year ago, but other data is up. The median price is up 5.6% and average prices are up 3.7% versus last year. This should bring more homes onto the market to help inventories, which are still up 6% from a year ago. Sales in which the buyer uses a mortgage are up 11.5% versus last year.
New Home Sales were also up in September, but only by 0.2%. Some media reported this as a "stall-out" in sales gains. But 0.2% more sales are in fact a greater number of sales, so nothing has "stalled out." More importantly, new home sales are now up 17.0% from a year ago and are at their highest level in more than six years. By the way, buyers have shifted slightly to multi-family homes (condos), which are not counted in the new home sales data. The FHFA index of prices for homes financed with conforming mortgages gained 0.5% in August, up 4.8% from a year ago. Prices are increasing, though at a gentler pace, which is not a bad thing.
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK...When you hit that afternoon lull, take a nap. Experts say a 26-minute nap can increase your performance by 34%. Even if you don't sleep, you get the benefit from being horizontal and quiet.
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