Built to last

The future of real estate looks bright. The long-term outlook for the housing market is very promising, thanks to the presence of the Echo Boomers --- the children of the Baby Boomers. The sheer size of this generation now reaching adulthood, combined with the increasing life expectancy of past generations, should keep household growth on track in the United States. Over time, the pent-up demand for housing and today's low levels of home building are expected to reduce the vacancy inventory, bringing housing markets into balance.

Built to last
Stemming from the most basic human need for shelter, the real estate industry is fundamentally built to last. The state of the housing market is impacted by many factors including mortgage rates and the volatility of other investment options. However, it is the limited supply along with the growing population that drives the need for housing.

The next surge in demand will be stimulated when Echo Boomers join the Baby Boom generation as active participants in the housing industry, reinvigorating the real estate market with opportunity and validating the purchase of a home as a lucrative investment.

How the media reports and distorts the housing market

Feeling Nosy About DC? MD? VA?

Ok, I know you're probably not planning on moving this very second, but here's this week's list of interesting-looking listings that have just come on the market. Mind you, they may not actually be my personal listings --- just intriguing properties I've come across that week.

Feeling nosy about the District of Columbia?
Feeling nosy about Virginia?
Feeling nosy about Maryland?

If you know someone who might be interested in this list, please forward it on to him or her. And if there's a listing that you're curious about yourself, just let me know ... and I'll show it to you ... just for the hell of it ... no obligation ... *I promise*. Really. (One of the perks of being the friend of a real estate agent ought to be that you get to freely snoop around other peoples' homes!

New-Home Sales Are Mixed Despite September Jump

By Reuters 25 Oct 2007 10:47 AM ET

Sales of new single-family U.S. homes rose 4.8 percent in September but sales in August were revised down sharply, painting a mixed picture of the battered housing sector.

New single-family home sales set an annual rate of 770,000 units in September, up from a downwardly revised rate of 735,000 in August, the Commerce Department said. Analysts had expected a 10,000 drop from the previously reported 780,000.

While sales were weak, the inventory of homes fell and the median sales price rose.

In September, the median sales price of a new home rose 2.5 percent to $238,000 from $232,100 in August, a month that saw the slowest sales pace in 11 years.

There were 523,000 new homes for sale at the end of the month, a 1.5 percent drop from August. It would take 8.3 months to clear that inventory at the current sales pace, down fromthe 9 months supply reported in August.

Sales for the month were off 23.3 percent from a year ago. Across the regions, sales were mostly down although the West did see a 37.7 increase. In the Midwest, sales were off 19.5percent and down 6.6 percent in the Northeast. Sales were up 0.5 percent in the South.

The report comes a day after a realty trade association said sales of previously owned homes fell 8 percent to a record low 5.04 million unit pace amid troubles in the subprimemortgage market.

Copyright 2007 Reuters.