We're more than half way through 2016. So how are we doing? So far, we're currently 120,000 home sales ahead of last year through July as you can see in our interactive housing tracker below.
Existing–home sales declined 3.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million in July as inventory levels of for–sale homes remain weak in many markets across the country. This marked the first decline since February. Conversely, new home sales rose 12.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 654,000 units, the highest in nearly a decade.
On a non–seasonally adjusted basis, existing home sales are up 0.5%, and new home sales are down 32% compared to 2007 through July. Momentum is likely to carry us through the remainder of the year so we will end up with the best year in home sales in a decade. This is despite having limited inventory and rapidly rising house prices in many markets.
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Across all sectors in housing, we’re experiencing a technology transformation that is increasing velocity, reducing cost and improving quality. In fact, the pace of change throughout the mortgage process has been steadily accelerating, and that trajectory is likely to continue in years ahead.
Although this year’s Optigo conference looked a little different, over 1,800 multifamily professionals joined the Freddie Mac team online to talk about the year we’ve had and look forward to what lies ahead.
Freddie Mac delivered a strong third quarter performance while supporting the housing market and families affected by the pandemic.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues Freddie Mac has worked closely with our servicers to provide affected homeowners with options to stay in their homes.