Sunday, March 30, 2014

RealtyTrac® Reports U.S. Residential Sales Volume Decreases in February for Fourth Consecutive Month as Distressed Sales Continue to Dry Up and Institutional Investors Pull Back Purchases



Daren Blomquist
IRVINE, CA — RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, released its February 2014 Residential & Foreclosure Sales Report, which shows that U.S. residential properties, including single family homes, condominiums and townhomes, sold at an estimated annual pace of 5,083,241 in February, a 0.2 percent decrease from the previous month but still up 7 percent from a year ago.

 February marked the fourth consecutive month where sales activity has decreased on a monthly basis.

The decrease in sales volume nationwide was driven by monthly decreases in 31 states. Meanwhile sales volume decreased on a year-over-year basis in six states, including Massachusetts, California, Arizona and Nevada, and 21 of the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, including seven California markets along with Phoenix, Orlando, Las Vegas and Detroit, among others.


“Supply and demand have reached a bit of a standoff in this uneven real estate recovery,” said Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac.

“The supply of distressed properties — which buyers and investors have come to rely on over the past few years — is evaporating quickly in most markets, but that dwindling supply is not being adequately replenished by non-distressed homeowners listing their homes or by new homes being built.

“Meanwhile, a key source of demand over the past two years — institutional investors purchasing single family homes as rentals — is starting to decline, and it’s not yet clear if that diminishing demand will be filled by first-time homebuyers and move-up buyers.”

For a complete copy of the company’s news release, please contact:

Jennifer von Pohlmann
 949.502.8300, ext. 139


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