Reply #31: Try this spin, TrogL: Realtors See Existing-home Sales Perking Up [View All]

[Ghost Dog]

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20061211\ACQDJON200612111708DOWJONESDJONLINE000707.htm&selected=9999&selecteddisplaysymbol=9999&StoryTargetFrame=_top&mkt=WORLD&chk=unchecked&lang=&link=&headlinereturnpage=http://www.international.na

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- Existing-home sales should perk up in late 2007, but new-home sales will continue their slide next year, the National Association of Realtors predicted Monday.

By the fourth quarter of 2007, existing-home sales will be 4.6% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2006, predicted David Lereah, the group's chief economist. That forecast rise in sales applies to the fourth quarters of the two years, not to full year-over-year figures.

In 2007, existing-home sales will reach an annual total of 6.40 million, 1% lower than the 6.47 million projected to be sold in 2006, according to the association.

At the same time, more air is expected to come out of the new-home-sales bubble, the group said. Sales of new homes are expected to drop 9.4% from their 2006 level, to 957,000, the Realtors predicted.

Meanwhile, home prices will make modest gains in the year ahead, the group said.

For 2006, the national median existing-home price is projected to rise 1.4% to $222,600. In 2007, it's expected to rise another 1%, to $224,700, the Realtors said. That compares with gains of nearly 14% in 2005 and almost 12% in 2004.

The median price of a new home should fall 0.5% in 2006, to $239,700, then rise by 0.8% next year to $241,700.

In 2005, according to the National Association of Home Builders, new-home prices rose 9%. In 2004 prices rose 13.3%, while in 2003 they rose 3.9%.

"Most of the correction in home prices is behind us," Lereah said in a statement Monday, "but general gains in value next year will be modest by historical standards."

/.