Home Sales Down For the Month of December By Korollos Shalaby Sales of existing homes in the United States

fell unexpectedly in December due to fewer people putting their properties on the market. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Tuesday that sales of existing homes fell 1.0% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.94 million units. Still, it was the second highest sales rate since November 2009, when a federal tax credit for homebuyers was going to expire. The U.S. housing market collapsed just before the recession of 2007-2009 and has not yet fully recovered, but the constant creation of employment helped the housing sector last year, when it probably helped economic growth for the first time since 2005. The inventory of existing homes for sale in the country fell 8.5% in December from November to 1.82 million units, the lowest level since January 2001. Many Americans are avoiding placing their homes on the market because they owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Inventories fell 21.6% compared to December 2011. At the current sales pace, the inventory would run out in 4.4 months, the lowest rate since May 2005. Low inventories are encouraging multiple resales for homes and helping to raise prices, said economist Lawrence Yun NAR. Nationally, the average price for a resale home was $ 180.800 in December, 11.5% more than a year ago. Need sales fell to 24% of total sales compared to 32% a year ago. The percentage of sales by necessity-which also include those in which the sale price was less than the amount due on the house-up compared to 22% in November. The volume of housing loans in the U.S. fell 10% last year and recorded its lowest level since 1995, highlighting the problems faced by the government to recover a real estate sector that continues to face problems. The Board of Examiners of the Federal Financial Institutions, a group of U.S. regulators, data released on Tuesday that showed that in 2011 it materialized 7.1 million home loans, a decrease from the 7.9 million loans last year. The data, which include mortgage loans, refinancing and home improvement loans, showed that for the purchase of a home, as well as for refinancing, fell. Loans for refinancing homes fell 13% in the year, while new mortgages fell 5%, the council said in a statement. However, the Federal Reserve, one of the regulators involved in the collection of data-emphasized that refinancing activity surged by year-end to lower interest rates. The analysis highlights the Fed's efforts to lift the still depressed housing market, which has become an obstacle to economic recovery from the recession of 2007-2009. The U.S.

government currently holds a guarantor of much of the new mortgages in a backup that has grown strongly since the collapse of the housing bubble helped spark the recession. The government also seeks to help owners refinance their homes at lower interest rates. The Fed has tried to help the industry by reducing interest rates. Last week, the U.S. central bank unveiled a plan to purchase Treasuries intended to reduce costs for home buyers and other borrowers. However, the Fed said Tuesday that a key measure of loan conditions were tightened last year, showing that banks demanded higher credit scores to qualify for a loan.

Korollos Shalaby is a nationally acknowledged mortgage expert with over 6 years experience as a loss mitigation expert and mortgage finance consultant. He has owned several companies and has been at the forefront of all lending and banking practices since 2006.

Tags: Home Sales, mortgage loans, National Association of Realtors