Housing market on the rebound
December 28, 2006
Washington — Sales of new homes rose in November while the backlog of unsold homes fell for a fourth straight month, providing hope that the serious slump in housing could be ending.
Sales of new single-family homes rose by 3.4 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.047 million units, reflecting solid sales increases in every region of the country except the South.
The increase was better than had been expected and offered hope that the steep slide in housing may be starting to bottom out as builders, using a wide array of incentives, begin to make a dent in the record level of unsold homes.
Builders in the mid-Hudson are hopeful.
“I think we’ve seen the bottom, both nationally and locally,” said Luke Regier, president of the Builders Association of the Hudson Valley.
The Northeast doesn’t see as much speculative building as other regions, so there’s typically less inventory to burn off when the market slows, said Regier, who is also an executive vice president of Lennar, a home building company.
Overall home sales in Orange County have slumped badly this year, trailing 2005 by 15 percent, according to the Orange County Association of Realtors. However, the number of homes for sale has declined in the past few months, adding further evidence that the sagging market may be leveling off.
Nationally, the 3.4 percent rebound in new home sales last month was the third increase in the past four months. It helped to lift the median price for a new home to $251,700, an increase of 3.2 percent from a year ago. The median price is the point where half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Staff writer Michael Levensohn contributed to this report.
