By Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily
RealtyTrac estimated on Thursday that sales of residential property including single family homes, condominiums, and townhomes set an annual pace of 4.51 million units in August. This is down .05 percent from July and is 16 percent below the pace one year earlier. The California company said it was the fourth consecutive month when annualized sales were lower than the same month the previous year.
There are many more estimates of home price trends each month than of home sales but the handful of private companies and public agencies that provide sale data all use different data sets and criteria. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports on sales of existing homes while the Census Bureau covers sales of newly constructed homes. The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) also estimates new home sales based on the applications its members receive for mortgages to finance such purchases. It is thus difficult to draw any conclusions about the accuracy of any of the estimates.
