Commenting on a recent report about disappointing home sales, the Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun, said “the main issue continues to be a supply and affordability problem. Finding the right property at an affordable price is burdening many potential buyers.”
Indeed, February’s existing home sales numbers dropped 7.1%, this after increasing to the highest annual rate in six months. However February’s number is still 2.2% higher than one year ago. Interestingly, Yun also noted that real estate investors were grabbing a bigger share of the action. Most notably:
“Investor sales have trended surprisingly higher in recent months after falling to as low as 12 percent of sales in August 2015….Now that there are fewer distressed homes available, it appears there’s been a shift towards investors purchasing lower-priced homes and turning them into rentals. Already facing affordability issues, this competition at the entry-level market only adds to the roadblocks slowing first-time buyers,” said Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors.
