With the scheduled closing deadline for the home buyer tax credits, existing-home sales slowed in June but remained at relatively elevated levels, according to the National Association of Realtors®.
Nationally, existing-home sales, which are completed transactions that include single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, fell 5.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million units in June from 5.66 million in May, but are 9.8 percent higher than the 4.89 million-unit pace in June 2009.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the market shows uncharacteristic yet understandable swings as buyers responded to the tax credits. “June home sales still reflect a tax credit impact with some sales not closed due to delays, which will show up in the next two months,” he said.
“Broadly speaking, sales closed after the home buyer tax credit will be significantly lower compared to the credit-induced spring surge. Only when jobs are created at a sufficient pace will home sales return to sustainable healthy levels.”
Home sales in June improved from the same month in 2009 by more than 10 percent. During June, there was an increase in closed sale figures in six of the seven MLS areas in the greater Albuquerque metro.
“Pending sales were down from last year, but that was expected as potential home buyers who would have waited until the summer, instead took advantage tax credit which ended on April 30,” said Mark Pando, President of the Greater Albuquerque Association of REALTORS®.
There were 723 closed home sales in June, down one percent from May. “Those sales generated $158.9 million dollars in total sales volume,” Pando said. “We have seen the total sales volume improve each month of 2010.”