Realtor Revise: Housing Downturn Was Worse Than We Thought

Before the crash, older home-buyers were already big players in the real-estate market, and now their influence is growing. According to the National Association of Realtors, people over 55 bought 21 percent of the homes that were sold in 2008, up from 13 percent in 2001.

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes unexpectedly dropped in March, showing uneven progress in the industry. Purchases of previously owned houses, tabulated when a contract closes, fell 0.6% to a 4.92 million annual rate last month, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. The median forecast of 75 economists surveyed by Bloomberg projected sales would increase to a 5 million rate. Prices climbed, reflecting more demand for higher-priced houses.

Brookfield Residential Properties Inc., the second-best performing home-building stock in the Americas over the past year, said the recovery in U.S. housing is only just starting to add to earnings. “We’re just at the beginning” of the recovery, Brookfield Chief Executive Officer Alan Norris said in a telephone interview from Calgary, where the company is based. “If you take a look at our numbers, all of our profit is from Canada. We’re only just starting to get to the point where the U.S. is going to be contributing.”

To hear the National Association of Realtors tell it, if only banks had looser mortgage standards, another 700,000 homes would be sold and 350,000 jobs would be created.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported today on existing-home sales in April with the following highlights: