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The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was recently signed into law by President Bush. One of the provisions of that law is a tax credit for first-time home buyers. In his commentary this month, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun gives us an overview of what that could mean to the housing market, and the economy as a whole. |
International Homebuying Activity
Foreigners continue to buy homes in the U.S, and more than a quarter of REALTORS® have some foreign clientele. NAR recently released its 2008 Profile of International Home Buying Activity, based on a survey conducted in May of this year and updating a report published in 2007. Keunwon Chung discusses some of the other findings in the latest profile.
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Location, Location, Location
There have been some positive developments for the housing market recently - pending home sales were up in June, and the housing stimulus bill passed both the House and Senate and was signed by the president. But there are also some uncertainties ahead, including the likelihood of more job cuts and further declines in new home construction. Lawrence Yun gives us his latest forecast for the economy and housing.
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Who's On First
The special tax break for first-time home buyers - part of the housing stimulus package -- ends in mid-2009. A home buyer tax credit has been available for first-time home buyers in Washington, D.C. for many years, and now first-time home buyers nationwide can take advantage of a similar benefit. In our In Focus feature, Danielle Hale looks at some of the details.
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Existing Home Sales
Existing-home sales posted a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.86 million units in June - a 2.6 percent decline from May's pace and 15.5 percent off the pace in June 2007. Single-family home sales declined 3.2 percent, while existing condominium and co-op sales rose 1.7 percent. Despite the overall sales decline, unpublished snapshot data shows existing-home sales rising significantly from a year ago in some markets. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $215,100 in June, down 6.1 percent from a year ago.
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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.
