US home sales hit 11-year high, supply still tight

Home sales increased drastically in the month of November. It actually increased to it’s highest point in 11 years! This was shocking due to the amount of damage done by hurricane Harvey and Irma, especially in the south. 90% of home sales are existing home sales and those sales rose about 0.9% compared to last years number. Last month, sales in the south increased 8.3% which makes up about half of the home sales market. The NRA feels there will be a negative impact on the home sales market due to new U.S. tax code, thanks to the Republicans. The most outrageous tax cut that happened was with President Trump, who will be signing this into law soon, a tax break for high mortgage payers. The cap off for mortgage deductions will be 750,000. Even though with this new law it will be harder for single-family home buyers to purchase homes, the home sales market is still expected to increase in the coming year.

Key Takeaways:

Home purchases surged almost 6% last month regardless of areas affected by the Hurricanes.
This roughly is about 5.5 million units being sold each month.
Existing homes, the largest part of the market, rose about 3.8% in the same period.

“Economists and realtors say a 40 percent share of first-time buyers is needed for a robust housing market.”