Housing Market Gaining Momentum in U.S. By Korollos Shalaby Sales of existing homes in the U.S.

rose in November at the fastest pace in three years, a sign that the recovery in the housing market is gaining momentum. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Thursday that sales of previously owned homes rose 5.9% last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million units. That was the fastest pace since November 2009, when there was an expiring federal tax credit for home buyers. Sales exceeded by far the estimates of analysts polled by Reuters, of 4.87 million units. The U.S. housing market collapsed during the recession of 2007-2009 and has not yet fully recovered, but continued job creation has helped the housing sector this year, when it is expected to contribute to economic growth for the first time since 2005. NAR economist Lawrence Yun said the storm that Sandy, which hit the U.S. east coast in late October and hurt the regional economy for weeks, only had a slightly negative impact on home sales. The NAR estimates that some purchases delayed by Sandy added a slight boost to sales in the coming months, Yun said. Nationally, the average price for a resale home was $ 180.600 in November, 10.1% more than the previous year, as fewer people sold their homes by necessity compared to the same period of 2011. The national inventory of existing homes for sale fell 3.8% in November to 2.03 million, the lowest level since December 2001. At the current sales pace, the inventory would run out in 4.8 months, the lowest rate since September 2005. The volume of housing loans in the U.S. fell 10% last year and recorded its lowest level since 1995, highlighting the problems faced by the government to recover a real estate sector that continues to face problems. The Board of Examiners of the Federal Financial Institutions, a group of U.S. regulators, released data on Tuesday that showed that in 2011it materialized 7.1 million home loans, a decrease from the 7.9 million loans last year. The data, which include mortgage loans, refinancing and home improvement loans, showed that for the purchase of a home, as well as for refinancing, fell. Loans for refinancing homes fell 13% in the year, while new mortgages fell 5%, the council said in a statement. However, the Federal Reserve, one of the regulators involved in the collection of data, emphasized that refinancing activity surged by year-end to lower interest rates. The analysis highlights the work that the federal government has to do to life the still depressed housing market, which has become an obstacle to economic recovery from the recession 2007-

2009. The U.S. government currently holds a guarantor of much of the new mortgages in a backup that has grown strongly since the collapse of the housing bubble helped spark the recession. The Government also seeks to help owners refinance their homes at lower interest rates. The Fed has tried to help the industry by reducing interest rates. Last week, the U.S. central bank unveiled a plan to purchase Treasuries intended to reduce costs for home buyers and other borrowers. However, the Fed said Tuesday that a key measure of loan conditions were tightened last year, showing that banks demanded higher credit scores to qualify for a loan.

Korollos Shalaby is a nationally acknowledged mortgage expert with over 6 years experience as a loss mitigation expert and mortgage finance consultant. He has owned several companies and has been at the forefront of all lending and banking practices since 2006.

Tags: economic recovery, housing loans, refinancing