Despite spin, housing sales still weak

The National Association of Realtors yesterday released its latest report of housing sales across the country. To no one’s surprise, the numbers remained rather dismal.

The sale of existing homes in April declined another 1 percent. In even worse news for sellers, the median existing single-family home price came in at $200,700 in April. This number is down 8.5 percent from one year earlier.

Of course, the National Association of Realtors being the largest trade organization representing real estate agents, its economists tried to spin some good news out of the depressing stats. That news? That a greater number of market areas are showing sales gains from a year ago.

That’s great if you happen to live in Springfield, Mo., or Greenville, S.C., where housing prices are showing steady gains. This, though, doesn’t change the fact that housing sales are still sluggish, and that sales prices are dropping in many, many areas of the country.

My advice? Hold off on selling, if you can. And if you absolutely have to sell, be prepared to get less than your ideal asking price.