Spring home buying is expected to begin anytime soon but a recent report shows that February was not a rosy month for the real estate market. Fewer existing homes were sold despite the increase in demand from buyers for more homes in the market.
According to the National Association of Realtors, the sales of existing homes dropped 7.1 percent from January to 5.08 million, Realtor.com reports. This, however, only reflected sales of existing homes, and does not include sales of newly constructed ones.
The drop in the percentage of sales of existing homes in the market, however, was said to be due to a number of reasons. Aside from the snow in the Northeast, there also seems to be problems coming from the stock market and even the shorter number of days in February.
However, real estate agents should not panic because of this drop. The publication's economic researcher, Javier Vivas, shared that there is no reason to panic because the demand from buyers is still there.
"We don't see any signs of it slowing down... we don't really seem to have any escape from the lack of affordable homes," she said.
Sales in existing homes in February 2016 were still higher by 2.2 percent from the same month in 2015. Aside from this, there was also a 1.4 percent drop in the average price of existing homes in the market, which can be taken as a good news for buyers.
Vivas also stated that sales will rise again in March as spring home buying begins. As previously reported here on Realty Today, spring home buying is expected to begin earlier this 2016.
February has reflected warmer temperatures than in previous years, which means that more buyers will start to get ready viewing houses. Spring is often the most popular season for buying a house and sellers are eager to take advantage of the increase in the demand for houses in the market.
