Thursday's news releases by MarketWatch, CNBC, and the National Association of Realtors all include headlines saying that national home sales increased in May. What the headlines don't say is that the increase in sales was measured by comparing the month of May to the month of April.
If you dig deeper into the releases you'll read that the number of national home sales in May 2008 was actually 15.9% lower than the number reported in May of 2007. This is the better way to measure the change in sales, due to the seasonality of real estate.
All real estate is seasonal, and when it comes to homes sold, the market is as predictable as the seasons. Look at this graph that shows the number of Dane County single family homes sold each month dating back to January of 2005. You'll see June is always the month with the highest number of closings; January is always the month with the lowest. You'll also see that May always has more closings than April.
For more information on how the market varies with the seasons, visit the real estate trends page at DaneCountyMarket.com.
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