By Duane Marsteller, The Bradenton Herald, Fla.
Feb. 27--MANATEE -- The national and local housing markets moved in different directions last month, according to sales reports released Friday. While U.S. sales of existing homes unexpectedly fell in January, sales rose both in Florida and in the Bradenton-Sarasota market, two trade groups reported.
Local Realtors closed on 662 single-family home sales in January, a 30-percent increase from the 511 they closed in January 2009, Florida Realtors said.
The median price -- the point where half sold for more, and half for less -- was $156,700 last month, up 8 percent from $144,800 a year ago but down from December's $167,400.
Still, January was the second straight month of year-over-year price gains. The last time that happened was in mid-2006, the beginning of a prolonged housing slump that led to a deep recession.
"Florida was one of the first ones in (the slump), and we were one of the first ones in Florida to feel it," said Cindy Greco of Wagner Realty, the Manatee Association of Realtors' president. "It's like the economists say: First in, first out. And we're definitely leading the way out of the darkness."
The under-$150,000 market, dominated by foreclosures and short sales, continues to be the strongest segment, she said.
"We're seeing good traffic of Canadians, and there still are a good amount of cash buyers in our area," Greco said.
Statewide, home resales rose 24 percent but prices declined 6 percent to $130,900, the Realtors group said.
Local condominium sales more than doubled, from 116 sold in January 2009 to 243 last month. The median price slid another 12 percent, to $137,900. That's better than Florida as a whole, where condo sales rose 81 percent and prices slipped by 14 percent, the group said.
Nationally, sales of previously occupied homes fell for the second straight month in January to the lowest level since summer -- the latest sign that the housing market's recovery is faltering.
The National Association of Realtors said sales fell 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million from a downwardly revised pace of 5.44 million in December.
The results, the weakest since June, were far worse than forecast. Economists expected a slight increase to a rate of 5.5 million.
The report "is certainly not good," said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist.
Sales declined throughout the country, falling the most -- nearly 11 percent -- in the Northeast. Sales fell by about 7 percent in the South and Midwest and by more than 5 percent in the West.
Potential buyers have left the market this winter because the deadline for a tax credit for first-time buyers was extended. It had been set to expire on Nov. 30, but Congress extended the deadline until April 30 and expanded it to existing homeowners who move.
"We hope that there will be another surge come late spring" as the new deadline nears, Yun said.
The median sales price was $164,700, unchanged from a year earlier and down 3.4 percent from December.
The inventory of unsold homes on the market was down slightly at 3.27 million. That's a 7.8 month supply at the current sales pace, up from a recent low of 6.5 months in November.
The bleak report comes after the government reported Wednesday that sales of newly built homes plunged 11 percent to a record low in January. The report, which measures signed contracts to buy homes rather than completed sales, also came as surprise to economists.
The main question hanging over the housing market this year is whether interest rates will rise, and by how much. The Federal Reserve's $1.25 trillion program to push down mortgage rates is scheduled to expire on March 31.
After that program runs out, mortgage rates should not spike, but rather rise gradually to about 6 percent over the next year, predicts Cameron Findlay, chief economist at LendingTree.com. That will mean homebuyers may have to reduce their price range, and could put downward pressure on prices.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
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