The US property market continues its upward trend. The increase in year-on-year sales figures for January is at the highest for three years. With the peak buying season a few weeks away, everything points to another excellent year for US property overall. Here BRIC Group outlines the facts currently being released.
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has just released US property statistics for January and these reveal that the market is continuing its upward trend. Sales in January reached their highest annual rate for six months and year-on-year figures are up 11 per cent on the same month last year. This latest gain is the highest since July 2013 when a 16.3 per cent increase in year-on-year sales was recorded.
Median prices
In terms of prices, the median price for all types of US property in January reached US$213,800, representing an 8.2 per cent increase in a year. The price hike last month was also the highest since April 2015. US property prices have now been rising for 47 months in a row.
Sales of single family homes went up by 11.2 per cent with the median price reaching US$215,000 in January. Condo properties in the US saw an 8.9 per cent increase in sales and a 7.4 per cent rise in price to reach a median of US$203,900.
Inventory supplies
Inventory levels have seen a slight increase – in January there were 1.82 million properties in the US for sale – but this figure remains below the number on the market a year ago. The US currently has a supply of 4 months property, slightly above the 3.9 months registered in December but significantly below the 6 months’ supply considered by experts as a sign of a balanced market.
The time taken to sell a property in the US rose slightly in January from 58 days in December to 64 days, although this is lower than January 2014 when homes were on the market for 69 days. This figure hides considerable variations, however, and 32 per cent of all properties were sold in less than a month.
“The spring buying season is right around the corner and current supply levels aren’t even close to what’s needed to accommodate the subsequent growth in housing demand, said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, commenting on the current situation in the US property market. He also noted that the housing sector “has shown promising resilience in recent months”.
Top regions
In regional terms, the best performer for property sales in the US was the Northeast where 20.6 per cent more properties were sold. The Midwest followed closely behind with an 18.2 per cent rise in the number of sales. Year-on-year price increases were the highest in the Midwest where median prices went up by 8.7 per cent. Those in the South rose by 8.5 per cent.
“The first figures for this year point to a continuation of last year’s trend,” says Dies Poppeliers, Managing Director of BRIC Group, “and we expect these market conditions, so clearly in favour of the seller, to continue throughout this year.”
BRIC Group, an investment company specialising in global real estate opportunities, offers US real estate investments including turnkey properties in Florida and Houston, and land plots in Florida. BRIC Group is also developing The Coral resort, in Northeast Brazil, a luxury beachfront resort with land and villa investment opportunities. BRIC Group has been creating wealth for its clients since 1996 and has offices in Brazil, Dubai (consulting office), Hungary, Spain and the US.
Source: NAR
