“May US home sales increased at a rate that’s slightly higher than the average monthly increase,” said Dave Liniger, RE/MAX CEO and Chair, to National Mortgage Professional Friday.
“This is despite the fact that inventory in many markets remains very low. At the same time, interest rates appear to have stabilized, which helps encourage potential homebuyers. Price increases continue to moderate and are rising at a more sustainable rate. This market is offering current homeowners more incentive to sell, which could have a positive impact on overall inventory levels.”
“Rising home sales, an improving economy and the fact that the HMI gauge measuring future sales expectations is running at an eight-month high are all positive factors indicating that the housing market should continue to move forward in the second half of 2016,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.
“On our analysis, US housing is just at an average level of affordability historically,” said Marty Young, Re- search Analyst at Goldman Sachs Wednesday.
“However, according to a cross-country comparison, US housing looks relatively affordable having seen milder house price inflation than many other DM countries over the past two decades.”