NAR Boosts Home Sales Forecasts

The National Association of Realtors has boosted its home sales forecasts for 2004 and 2005, calling for record existing-home sales of 6.58 million this year and 6.38 million next year, and record new-home sales of 1.18 million this year and 1.13 million in 2005.At its annual Realtor conference in November, the NAR was forecasting resales of 6.55 million this year and 6.30 million next year, and new-home sales of 1.17 million this year and 1.07 million in 2005. The NAR's latest forecast calls for housing starts of 1.95 million this year, the highest level since 1978, and 1.87 million in 2005. "We're setting our fourth consecutive record year for existing-home sales, and even with strong fundamentals such as household growth, low interest rates, and an improving economy, we simply can't set records every year," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. The NAR can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.