With Terry Story, 25-year Veteran Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker in Boca Raton, FL
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New home sales were up 7.8% in February to a seven-year high, with a seasonally-adjusted rate of 539,000 that is the closest they’ve been since a pace of 593,000 in February 2008. New home sales reflect consumer optimism and are an indicator of future purchases of consumer durables such as appliances and furniture. The report was well ahead of analyst estimates and bodes well for new home sales in 2015. The median price of February new home sales was $275,500 and inventory stayed tight with 4.7 months of supply. Existing home sales were up 1.2% in February. Moreover, with weak Q1 economic data, the Fed will likely not raise interest rates before September 2015 so mortgage interest rates will stay low and could further boost the housing market, just as lenders relax rules and make getting a mortgage loan much easier.
Another report said that 1.2 million borrowers regained the equity in their homes – which means they now live in homes that are worth equal to or more than what they paid for the home. Additionally, rent-to-own appears to be making a comeback… so those are other encouraging statistics tied to jobs, housing and mortgage affordability.
