Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Existing Home Sales Report for March showing likely the initial signs of the second epic government sponsored surge in home sales activity with single family home sales increasing 7.34% since last month and climbing 13.3% above the level seen last year.As for prices, the March release showed the first year-over-year increase in at least 41 months climbing 0.59% since last year.
It’s important when reflecting on the sales results to consider that over 71.2% of all sales were for properties priced below $250,000 while just over 7.3% were priced at or above $500,000.
Today’s results likely indicate that the government’s tax gimmick (second and final expiration is upon us) is driving a surge of phony demand and bringing a renewal of speculative animal spirits but the effect will likely be temporary.
The following charts (click for full-screen dynamic version) shows national existing single family home sales, median home prices, inventory and months of supply since 2005.
