WASHINGTON–The month of June brought a dramatic 11-percent increase in new home sales, according to figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Sales of new homes registered a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000 units last month, an increase from the upwardly revised 346,000 units posted in May and the third month in a row this indicator has risen. The June total was still more than 21 percent off from June 2008, but, according to Joe Robson, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, the good news “indicates the nation’s housing market may be in the process of turning the corner.”
While upward momentum appears to have taken hold in the market, NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe cautioned that housing has a way to go before achieving full health again. “The concern now is that complicating factors—particularly job losses, appraisal issues that are torpedoing more than a quarter of new home sales and the impending expiration of the first-time buyer tax credit—threaten to stifle the positive momentum,” Crowe said.
Regarding appraisals, both NAHB and the National Association of Realtors have contended that faulty appraisals in some markets have prevented potential buyers from obtaining financing for home purchases. The first-time buyer tax credit, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, provides $8,000 to first-time home purchasers.