Housing industry economists raised their forecast for home sales this year, noting that demand remains strong due to lower-than-expected mortgage rates. Economists at the National Association of Realtors said they expect home sales to total a record 8.13 million units in 2005, up 1.8% from last year. Of that total, sales of previously owned homes are expected to reach 6.89 million units, up 1.6% from 2004. Sales of newly built homes are expected to total 1.24 million this year, up 3.2% from 2004. The trade group also estimates that home builders will have started construction on 2.02 million home units this year, up 3.4% from 2004 and the highest level of new-home starts since 1973. The NAR also estimates that home prices will continue to climb. The national median existing-home price for all housing types is expected to rise 8.8% in 2005 to $201,500, while the typical new-home price will increase 5.7% to $233,600. Contact MS Las Vegas Real Estate at 888-349-2595 for specific information on the market for Las Vegas homes.

This entry was posted by Michelle Sterling on Wednesday, June 8th, 2005 at 8:11 pm and is filed under Business & The Economy, Las Vegas Real Estate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.