According to the latest available forecast from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home sales are projected to trend upward by the end of the year.
Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, noted that overall housing activity is historically strong and that sales activity should improve over the next few months.
Existing-home sales are expected to total 6.18 million in 2007 and 6.41 million the next year, down slightly from 2006’s total of 6.48 million. Median existing home prices should decrease by only 1.3 percent to $219,000 before rising again next year.
NAR also forecast that 860,000 new homes will be sold in 2007, compared to 1.05 million last year.
Contributing to this better-than-expected outlook for housing are other positive predictions for consumers. The unemployment rate is projected to remain unchanged at 4.6 percent, while the inflation rate is expected to decline from 3.2 percent to 2.5 percent. Disposable personal income is likely to rise by 2.8 percent this year, compared to 2006’s increase of 2.6 percent.