They're Wrapped Up Pretty...and They're Moving

We probably should have seen this coming, with reports from agents saying they were seeing an unusual increase in buyers wanting to do something. Today The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) released a report stating the seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales of existing homes in December went up to 4.47 million units in December. That is a 6.5 percent increase over the November number, but 3.5 percent behind the December 2007 numbers.

Of course, none of this says anything about prices of homes. However, NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun did say home prices are continuing downward. He also pointed out that total housing inventory feel 11.7 percent at the end of December?down to 3.68 million homes for sale. These numbers mean there is about a 9.3-month supply on the market right now.

All these numbers are national. NAR didn’t release their data, so we aren’t able to look at Illinois or Chicago. A quick check of the Illinois Assocation of Realtors® and The Chicago Assoication of Realtors® sites didn’t have any additional local data. Hopefully that will be coming shortly.

Midwest Numbers

What NAR did give us was “Midwest” numbers, and they were up as well. There was a 4.0 percent increase in existing-home sales in December to 1.04 million homes. This is 10.3 percent below the December 2007 number. They also reported that the median home price in the Midwest is now $140,800, which is down 11.4 percent compared to the same number last year.

It’s Good to Be a Buyer

All this, of course, means that if you are a buyer with a good job and a preapproval letter, you are in a very good place. You will likely have a lot of homes to choose from at amazing prices. To top all this off, Freddie Mac reported the rate on a 30-year fixed mortage was 5.2%. Maybe the January numbers will be even better.