The United States market is showing signs of health before the prime buying season of spring, as new figures point towards an improved market. Sales of houses occupied in the past increased to their highest level since two years back, May, 2010. Moreover, a greater number of first time home buyers are also making new purchases and the supply of houses dropped in January to its lowest level in almost 7 years, which could drive U.S. house prices higher.
If an aggregate increase of sales is determined, there has been a 13 percent rise in sales in the last six months. Sales however still remain below the target in mind of economists, who say that sales should hit 6 million to indicate towards a healthy market. However, the increase in sales has coincided with different changes taking place in the United States market which also suggest that more sales are going to come.
On Wednesday, the National Association of Realtors revealed that re-sales jumped by 4.3 percent in January, as they settled at a seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 4.57 million. On the other hand, single family home sales increased by 3.8 percent, while first time home buyers also increased by a slight margin, as they accounted for a share of 33 percent in total sales. That percentage however is still lower than the 40 percent mentioned by economists, needed to signal towards a better and improved market.
According to High Frequency Economics’ economist, Ian Shepherdson, who is considered as the chief United States economist in the largest economy of the world and globally, the trend in the housing market is clearly upward.
However, one concern in the U.S. housing market still remains the risk of foreclosure, which drops broader housing prices. Foreclosures in United States also increased, making up 35 percent of total sales.
