Existing Home Sales Continue To Trend Upward Nationally

Chicago-area home buyers who weren’t willing to bet that a federal tax credit was going to be extended closed on more than 6,826 existing home purchases last month, making November the fifth consecutive month of improved year-over-year home sales for Chicago real estate.

The National Association of Realtors reports that November home sales improved for year over year comparisons, continuing a trend of five straight months of increased home sales across the country.  Perhaps this data comes unsurprisingly as first-time home buyers raced to close on a home purchase before the November 30th deadline for the tax credit that was subsequently extended anyway.  In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors, 51% of the homes sold in November were to first-time buyers.

This news represents a 44% increase from November of 2008, reflected in 6.54 million units sold nationwide.   When the first-time buyer tax credit expires in the end of April, the hope in the industry is that post-credit, that the housing market will be able to sustain the momentum created by the tax credit.

Total housing inventory at the end of November declined 1.3 percent to 3.52 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 6 1/2-month supply at the current sales pace, down from an 7.0-month supply in October.

It’s questionable, though, whether the housing market will see a sixth consecutive month of improvement. Typically, home sales slack off as the holidays approach and buyers don’t come back into the market until after the Super Bowl in late January.