Seller's Market in Homes Ending?

The five-year seller's market in homes is coming to an end, according to the latest forecast from the National Association of Realtors.The sales of existing homes are projected to fall 5.7% to 6.67 million this year from the record 7.08 million last year, the NAR's forecast indicates. "The cooling from overheated sales conditions in recent months is helping to bring inventory levels up to the point where buyers have more choices than they've seen in the last five years," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. "Annual price appreciation is still running at double-digit rates, but the cause of those sharp increases is going away. As the market readjusts, price appreciation should return to more normal rates of growth this year." The forecast also calls for a rise of only 5.8% in the national median existing-home price, compared with the 12.5% recorded in 2005. The NAR can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.