Great news, the new home owner stimulus package did work. Nearly half of all homes sold between July 2008 and June 2009 were by first time home buyers. Average price was $156,000 and the median income of the household making the purchase was $61,600.

And the last piece of good news is that the government has renewed the new home buyers program.

But think for a second. That means that people moving up are not really moving up that much. Only 53% of sales were by current home owners. So if they are not moving up, they are not moving out, and they are not selling their homes.

So we know now that much of the inventory being sold is vacant, either new construction or foreclosures. And the average purchase price would not buy an outhouse in many of the more expensive markets in the country.

So if you are selling in the low end of the market and absorbing young upwardly mobile renters, you probably had a good year. If your trying to sell a mid priced or expensive home you are fighting an uphill battle. The buyers are not looking in your direction yet.

We are still absorbing inventory folks and flushing out the large range of foreclosures on the market. This is not a healthy real estate market yet.

First-time buyers accounted for a record 47 percent of home sales between July 2008 and June this year, up from 41 percent in the prior-year period, according to the survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors.

The annual survey gleans details on everything from how buyers came up with down payments to how long it took sellers to unload their homes. The latest results were derived from more than 9,000 responses, the trade association said.

…

First-time buyers had a median age of 30 and reported a median income of $61,600, the survey shows. The typical first-time buyer paid $156,000 for their home, about $9,000 less than in the Realtors’ 2008 survey.

Repeat buyers were typically a few years older, 48, and earned a bit more than first-timers: $88,100. They also said they planned to stay in the home for 12 years. via Yahoo News

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2. Third Quarter Existing Homes Sales Increase 11.4 Percent, Prices Drop 11.2 Percent
3. New Home Sales Down Even With First Time Homebuyers Credit
4. Why Are Home Sales Slow? People Have Stopped Moving
5. Housing Market Shows Stronger June Sales