Florida Mortgage Update: What the Media Missed About September’s Home Sales Reports

Florida mortgage borrowers may have been mislead to some degree by recent newspaper headlines touting home sales numbers.

After the September New Home Sales report indicated that home sales volume was down from August, the mainstream media immediately released stories like the following:

• New Home Sales fall a surprising 3.6%
• Surprise Drop In New Home Sales
• Stocks slide as New Home Sales fall

However, as is sometimes the case, these headlines miss the point.  True, home sales volume is important to housing, but it’s not as important as home supply.

Florida mortgage borrowers would be well advised to dig a bit deeper into these reports.  Doing so, would reveal an interesting comparison point:

• New home sales volume fell 3.6%
• The number of new homes available for sale fell 3.8%

In other words, sales outpaced supply — a reoccurring theme this year and a positive signal for housing.

Since peaking in January 2009, the national supply of newly-built homes has decreased by 40 percent.  The average home sales price is up 15% over the same period.

This is why, as a Florida mortgage borrower, you should not glean your real estate news from the headlines.  You have to dig a little bit deeper to get the real story.

September’s New Home Sales report was plenty strong.  As such, we have more proof that the housing market recovery continues.