October 26th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Share on Facebook Existing home sales jumped 9.4% in September to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 5.57 million annualized units. It was much more than 5.35 million units economists had been expecting, according to estimates provided by Thomson Reuters. In Tucson the market was also up with pending home sales in Tucson up over 59% from October of ’08. Much of the demand according to Lawrence Yun the top Realtor economist is driven from the first time buyer tax benefit. He states:

“Much of the momentum is from people responding to the first-time buyer tax credit, which is freeing many sellers to make a trade and buy another home,” said NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a statement

In additional stats from the National Association of Realtor’s existing home report were as follows:

The nation’s home inventory fell to 3.63 million existing homes available for sale, NAR said, representing a 7.8-month supply, down from a 9.3-month supply in August. Unsold inventory is 15% below a year ago.

Sales increased in all major tracked geographical divisions in the country. In the Northeast, sales rose 4.4%, up 11.8% from a year ago. The median price in the Northeast was $234,700, down 7% from a year ago.

In the Midwest, sales rose 9.6%, up 7.8% from a year ago. The median price in the Midwest was $147,600, down 1% from a year ago. In the South, existing-home sales rose 9%, up 10.8% from a year ago. The median price in the South was $153,500, down 7.6% from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the West jumped 13%, at levels 5.7% higher than a year ago. The median price in the West was $219,000, which is 15.% below September 2008.

According to the NAR, first-time home buyers accounted for more than 45% of home sales during the past year and distressed (foreclosed) homes accounted for 29% of transactions in September.

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