Business

U.S. Home Sales Plunge 4.9 Percent in January

Published

11 years ago

February 23, 2015

Reporter II

This Jan. 8, 2015 photo shows a home for sale in Charlotte, N.C. The National Association of Realtors reports on sales of existing homes in January on Monday, Feb. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

(AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

Josh Boak, ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home sales struck a snow drift in January, plunging to the slowest pace in nine months.

The National Association of Realtors said Monday that sales of existing homes tumbled 4.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.82 million. That brings sales down to their lowest level since April 2014.

Relatively low mortgage rates and steady job growth have yet to spur more activity from buyers and sellers, raising the possibility of either a spring sales rush or a second straight year of numbness in the real estate market. Few properties are being listed for sale, would-be buyers are holding off on purchases and snowstorms are cutting into traffic at open houses.

Weak sales in 2014 had set up expectations of a strong rebound in 2015, yet signs of that resurgence have yet to appear. The addition of roughly 1 million new jobs over the past three months has failed to make much of a dent in home-buying.

Homes did sell at a rate 3.2 percent faster than January 2014, but that increase largely reflects the brutal winter weather at the beginning of last year that depressed home-buying and caused the entire U.S. economy to briefly shrink. The noticeably more robust U.S. economy coming into 2015 was supposed to buoy sales, but the market has barely stirred so far.

“The weather hit is nothing like the scale of the damage seen last winter, but we would not now be surprised to see a further decline in activity in February,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. “The underlying trend in sales is more or less flat.”

Few properties are coming onto the market. Just 4.7 months of supply were listed for sale at the end of December, compared with an average of 5.2 months during 2014, according to the Realtors.

Nor have builders ramped up construction. Housing starts slid 2 percent in January, according to a report from the Commerce Department last week.

The limited supply of homes can lift prices to higher levels, which may then lead would-be buyers to wait until they have more choices. Weekly mortgage applications fell 13.2 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last Wednesday.

Affordability has become a problem as prices have climbed at a faster clip than incomes. The national median home price rose 6.2 percent over the past 12 months to $199,600. That has priced out many first-time buyers, who represented just 28 percent of sales compared to their historic share of 40 percent.

Mother Nature is also beginning to take its toll. Nasty snowstorms in the Midwest and Northeast likely kept would-be buyers away, further crimping sales heading into March and beginning of the spring buying season.

Buyer traffic for newly built homes slowed in February, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo sentiment index.

The Realtors said previously in a separate report that the number of signed contracts in December fell 3.7 percent, suggesting that sales will remain under pressure in the coming months.

Sales slid in all four major geographical regions last month: dropping 6 percent in the Northeast, 2.7 percent in the Midwest, 4.6 percent in the South and 7.1 percent in the West.

Possibly hurting sales further, mortgage rates have crept upward for the past two weeks, ending what has previously been a yearlong slide.

Average 30-year fixed rates were 3.76 percent last week, according to the mortgage giant Freddie Mac. The average has risen from 3.59 percent at the start of February.

The current levels remain below the 4.33 percent average from a year ago, but the previous lows might keep current homeowners from upgrading since it would mean abandoning their current mortgage for a loan with possibly a higher rate and larger monthly payments.

###

Reporter II

Posts by Reporter II

Related Topics:economy home sales homeownership housing markets

Up Next

U.S. Home Sales Plunge 4.9 Percent in January

Don't Miss

Comcast, Al Sharpton Hit With $20 Billion Racial Discrimination Lawsuit

Reporter II

Click to comment

Black History

After 10-Year Wait, Fillmore Heritage Center Reopens in San Francisco

After serving as the economic and cultural hub of the Fillmore’s historically Black community for more than a decade, the closure of the center ended what was called the “Rebirth of the Cool,” referring to the neighborhood’s role during the height of Black Jazz in the United States.

Published

3 minutes ago

June 10, 2026

bpusa-syndication

By
Linda Parker Pennington

Special
to The Post

Last
Saturday morning, the cloudy skies cleared just as the highly anticipated
ribbon-cutting ceremony began, marking the reopening of the Fillmore Heritage
Center at 1330 Fillmore and Eddy.

The complex – which had once included Yoshi’s
Jazz Club, the Lush Life Art Gallery, the Koret Heritage Lobby, a 54-seat
microcinema, and the Black-owned 1300 On Fillmore restaurant – shuttered in
2015.

After
serving as the economic and cultural hub of the Fillmore’s historically Black
community for more than a decade, the center’s closure ended what was
called the “Rebirth of the Cool,” referring to the neighborhood’s role during
the height of Black Jazz in the United States.

“The
Fillmore is the most important neighborhood in San Francisco’s history for
centering Black culture, music, business, and community, and has shaped this
City and influenced the entire country,” said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie
to the gathering of more than 100 community leaders, business owners, and public
officials. “This building reflects the deep roots of the Fillmore. Urban
renewal left deep scars that are still felt today. This Center celebrates a
strong Black community that continues to shape San Francisco. I am proud to
join the community as we reopen the Fillmore Heritage Center.”

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announcing the reopening of the Fillmore Heritage Center. Erika Scott, owner of Honey Art Studio, looks on with pride. Photo by Linda Parker Pennington.

Although
the previous stakeholders will not be returning to the center, spaces are available for nonprofit organizations and ventures, such as Fillmore native Ericka Johnson’s Honey Art Studio.

“This
Center will be an economic engine and a thriving venue that shines a light on
the Black-owned businesses in this neighborhood and lifts the entire district,”
Lurie continued. “Our City is committed to this community for the long term.”

“We’re
excited to collaborate with the City to finally reopen these doors,” said Ken
Johnson, a videographer and community leader who’d been lobbying for the
reopening of the center. “It’s an opportunity to showcase the entrepreneurship
and creative spirit of this ‘Harlem of the West’ and the ‘Rebirth of the Cool,’
grounded in our uniquely gifted Fillmore community.”

Through its Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the city will begin this month renting the building’s noncommercial spaces for pop-up events that celebrate local talent, arts, and entertainment primarily centered in the Fillmore.