Northern Trust Company Research: The Market is Slowing Down

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Housing Market Is Certainly Cooling Down

Sales of all existing homes fell 5.7% to an annual rate of 6.6 million units in December. For the
year, existing homes sold at a pace of 7.049 million units. Sales of existing single-family homes
dropped 6.8% to an annual rate of 5.720 million units during December. Sales of single-family
existing homes have dropped during each month of the fourth quarter, taking the quarterly
annualized decline in the fourth quarter to a hefty 17.1%. This is the largest quarterly decline since
the second quarter of 1994, when sales of existing single-family homes fell at an annual rate of
23.1%. (A decline in purchases of homes is not the only noticeably change in the fourth quarter,
sales of autos dropped at annual rate of 38.9% in the fourth quarter).

 

 However, 2005 closed as a banner year with the largest number of existing single-family homes sold since record keeping began in 1968.

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