Home sales higher than last year

The September 2011 Remax National Housing Report found that home sales increased 7.6 percent compared to September 2010, while inventory of homes on the market fell 20.2 percent from last year. While home sales increased, home prices fell 3.3 percent compared to the same month a year go.

The median sales price was $183,762 for September, which is 2.5 percent lower than the median price for August and 3.3 percent lower than prices reported in September 2010. The average number of days a home is spending on the market for September was 94, compared to 90 days in August and 88 days in September last year.

For the past 15 months, the total number of homes for sale has decreased, with September's inventory 4.8 percent less than August's and 20.2 percent smaller than the inventory in September 2010.

While existing home sales are on the rise, new home builds have increased as well. Beazer Homes USA recently reported that new home orders jumped 33 percent in the company's fiscal fourth quarter compared to the same time last year, and home closings rose 23 percent. In addition, 100 of the home builder's closings were pushed from the last week of September into October due to new underwriting processes by mortgage lenders. The company expects the delayed closings to generate $23 million in revenue.

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