No Signs Of A Bottom In The Housing Market

For those looking for signs of a bottom in the housing market, today's NAR Metropolitan home sales report for Q2 offers little hope.

Overall, single-family home sales in the U.S. fell -7.6% in Q2. The strongest region was the Midwest (-0.9%) while the weakest region was the West (-17.4%). Here are some of the top and bottom performers:

Top 5

• +8.9%: Yakima, WA
• +7.1%: Charleston, WV
• +6.0%: Des Moines, IA
• +5.1%: Greenville, SC
• +4.7%: Buffalo, NY

Bottom 5

• -35.6%: Sacramento, CA
• -33.1%: Ft. Myers, FL
• -32.7%: Riverside, CA
• -29.5%: Los Angeles, CA
• -23.9%: Anaheim, CA

Other notable cities:

• -5.3%: New York NY
• -9.0%: Chicago, IL
• -10.8%: Boston, MA
• -16.8% Washington, DC
• -17.0%: Cleveland, OH
• -19.1%: San Francisco, CA
• -19.3%: Miami, FL
• -22.5%: Phoenix, AZ
• -23.6%: Las Vegas, NV

Obviously, states like California are in a world of hurt. But any signs of a bottom in the housing market overall remain elusive at best. This report for Q2 actually is an acceleration in the pace of declines. First we need to see signs of stabilization before we can start talking about a bottom, and then possible appreciation.

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