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Current real estate market conditions are positive for most buyers: still-attractive interest rates, a large inventory of homes available for sale, and many sellers willing to negotiate their sales prices. But there are some concerns on the horizon. Lawrence Yun discusses NAR's recent forecast for housing and the economy. |
Cost of Business
Four out of five REALTORS® work as independent contractors. As such, the majority of them are responsible for many of their own business expenses. Those expenses include costs of marketing and promotion, technology, professional development (or continuing education), and administrative costs. But in 2007 the amount that REALTORS® spent on business declined compared to the level spent in 2006. Our Market Intelligence column this month looks at some of those expenses by category, based on data from the 2008 NAR Member Profile.
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Is the "Malthusian Theory" at Work?
Raw materials for construction are commanding sky-high prices, including oil, diesel, copper, steel, and cement. In the past five years the consumer price index has risen 18 percent, while the producer price index for construction has increased 39 percent during the same period. But real estate has historically been a good hedge against inflation. Why not this time? NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun comments.
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Employment: Not All Negative
Job creation is crucial to economic health. Lately, the news on jobs has not been all that good. The U.S employment level has been falling since January of 2008. New layoffs are being caused by the downward movement in the housing market and the general U.S. economy. But not all industries and locations are experiencing the slowdown in the same fashion. NAR's Manager of Regional Economics Ken Fears looks at some recent developments.
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Existing Home Sales
Existing-home sales rose 2.0 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.99 million units. Resales increased in every region but the South. Still, sales of existing homes - single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops - were down 15.9 percent from the level in May of 2007. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $208,600 in May. There is still a large supply of homes on the market. This clearly favors buyers, but it will take several months to draw the inventory down. Total housing inventory at the end of May fell to 4.49 million existing homes available for sale, a 10.8-month supply at the current sales pace.
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Real Estate Insights
Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief EconomistPaul Bishop, Managing Director, NAR Research
Harika "Anna" Barlett, Senior Research Analyst
Wannasiri Chompoopet, Manager of Housing Statistics
Keunwon Chung, Data Research Analyst
Stephanie Davis, Office Manager
Thomas J. Doyle, Research Marketing Manager
Meredith Dunn, Communications Representative
Ken Fears, Manager, Regional Economics
Danielle Hale, Research Economist
Michael Hyman, Research Assistant
Jessica Lautz, Senior Research Analyst
Scott MacIntosh, Senior Commercial Economist
George Ratiu, Research Economist
Jed Smith, Managing Director, Quantitative Research
Caroline Van Hollen, Administrative Coordinator
Copyright ©2008 NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. Reproduction or reprinting in any form is prohibited without written permission. Editorial questions and requests to reprint articles should be directed to Meredith Dunn at 202/383-1207, or via e-mail at insights@realtors.org.
