THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, January 22, 1996 TAG: 9601200183
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: Forecast 1996
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Called by many the year of the cautious consumer, 1996 could be the year of the cautious home buyer too.
Many economists and industry watchers expect home sales to remain flat this year based on the soft sales of 1995.
The National Association of Realtors forecast home sales of single family dwellings to be 3.74 million nationwide, down 1.2 percent from the group's 1995 forecast of 3.785 million single family homes sold.
John Whaley, director of economic services at the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, predicted almost no change in the number of local home sales during the new year.
He estimated local home sales to increase one half of 1 percent.
Home sales in Hampton Roads remained flat through November. Pending home sales of single family units rose only 0.72 percent from January through November 1995, compared to the previous year, according to the Virginia Association of Realtors.
Locally, 20,377 single family units were under contract in Hampton Roads from January through November 1994 compared to the 20,524 pending sales in 1995.
Sales of existing single family homes in the United States fell in November to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.04 million from a revised 4.110 in October, reported the National Association of Realtors.
Although interest rates are falling, which will help those consumers set on buying a house, other economic indicators don't appear as positive. Bankruptcies have been rising, and there's no boom expected in the job market.
With the general slowing of the economy and money-conscious consumers in debt, ``the consumer is going to be somewhat cautious in 1996,'' Whaley said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
John Whaley, regional planner.
KEYWORDS: HOME SALES by CNB