Homes Are Selling Faster

Inventories of for-sale homes aren’t the only thing that is dropping. The amount of time homes are staying on the market is growing shorter as well—down 11 percent in the last year—according to the latest Realtor.com data.

Homes were listed on average 95 days, according to September housing data. That is down from 107 days a year earlier. 

As the median age of the inventory is falling, inventories of for-sale homes continue to hover at record lows too, dropping 18 percent last month compared to a year ago.

“There’s a recovery,” Curt Beardsley, vice president of Realtor.com, told BusinessWeek. “Our market times are low and there’s actually a compression of inventory.”

Home buyer demand is increasing, with housing affordability still high and ultra low mortgage rates that have pushed home buyers’ purchasing power higher. The rise in demand has caused asking prices to also rise. Last month, the median asking price was $191,500, which is up 0.8 percent compared to a year earlier, Realtor.com reports. 

Source: "Listings of Homes for Sale Drop as U.S. Housing Recovers," BusinessWeek (Oct. 15, 2012) and REALTOR® Magazine Daily News

Housing Recovery Expanding

The recovery in the housing market is showing itself beyond just rising new and existing-home sales and home price increases.

Home builder stocks, for example, have become srovme inome of the strongest performers of the year in the stock market. Some home builder stocks, like Pulte Group, have even more than doubled in the last year.

With home prices showing signs of stabilizing or even rising too, more home owners also are investing in their homes, either remodeling or purchasing new furniture or appliances, says Brian E. Peery, co-manager of the Hennessy Cornerstone Growth fund. For example, home improvement items like cabinets and plumbing fixtures are seeing sales volumes rebound.

Home Equity on the Rise

Rising home values are helping more home owners to find equity in their homes, according to the September Housing Scorecard from the Obama administration. 

Home equity is at its highest level since the third quarter of 2008 and has risen by $860 billion since the end of 2011, according to the report. The rise in equity has helped lift 1.3 million families from being underwater, or owing more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth.