Potential Home Sales, a metric from First American Financial Corp., increased to a seasonally adjusted, annualized rate of 6.1 million in November, which is 4 percent higher than last year and a whopping 103.5 percent increase from December 2008.
But, there is room for improvement. HousingWire reports that potential existing-home sales are still 1.6 percent below the July 2005 peak.
Tight inventory and rising mortgage rates may cool home sales in 2017.
So just how much will this rate increase affect home sales in the year to come? First American chief economist Mark Fleming estimates it could bring a decline of a full percentage point in house price growth rate in 2017. “The post-election increase in mortgage rates, while not yet impacting sales activity, is expected to slow the pace of existing-home sales and house price appreciation in 2017,” Fleming said.
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