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U.S. home prices expected to rebound in 2008 |
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08:08, July 12, 2007 |
U.S. home prices are expected to recover in 2008 with existing-home sales picking up late this year and new-home sales rising early next year, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Wednesday in its latest forecast.
The NAR expects existing-home sales to total 6.11 million units this year and 6.37 million in 2008, down from 6.48 million last year. New-home sales are projected at 865,000 units in 2007 and 878,000 next year, compared with 1.05 million in 2006.
Housing starts, including multifamily units, are forecast at 1. 43 million units this year and 1.44 million in 2008, down from 1. 80 million last year.
Existing-home prices are likely to rise 1.8 percent to a median of 222,700 dollars in 2008 after a 1.4 percent decline this year to 218,800 dollars, the NAR said.
And the median new-home price should rise 2.2 percent to 222, 700 dollars next year following a 2.6 percent drop in 2007 to 240, 100 dollars.
The median price is a typical market price where half of homes are sold for more and half sold for less.
"Markets that sharply reduce new construction in 2007 will generally experience respectable price increases in 2008," Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said in a press release.
The real estate trade group also expects the U.S. economy to grow 2.0 percent in 2007 and 2.8 percent in 2008, compared with a 3.3 percent rate last year.
The unemployment rate is likely to average 4.6 percent in 2007, unchanged from last year, the NAR said.
The NAR, "The Voice for Real Estate," says it is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
Source: Xinhua
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