December was a bad month for home sales especially in Lackawanna County which was down over 40% from the previous month. The good news is that traffic is picking up and sales should start to rise in the next few months with the $8,000.00 homebuyer credit still available until the end of April. To read more see the article below:

WASHINGTON — New home sales posted an unexpected drop in December, capping the industry’s worst year on record and fueling concern that the housing market turnaround could falter.

Last month’s results were the weakest since March and were only 4 percent above the bottom last January. The data showed the housing recovery remains limp despite newly expanded tax incentives to spur sales. Many in the industry, however, expect sales to pick up as the April 30 deadline for the tax credit nears.

Some builders are nervous. “If we don’t see better data in March and April, we’re going to have a big problem,” said John Wieland, CEO of Atlanta-based John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods.

But traffic from potential buyers has picked up in recent weeks, he said, and will increase even more if consumers become more confident in the economy’s recovery.

“People are looking ahead and saying, ‘This recession has gone on a long time and I’m going ahead with my life,’ ” Wieland said.

Nationwide, new home sales for December fell 7.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 342,000 from an upwardly revised November pace of 370,000, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had forecast a pace of 370,000 for December.

Only 374,000 new homes were sold last year, down 23 percent from a year earlier and the weakest year on records dating back to 1963. December’s sales were nearly 9 percent below the same month last year. This year, the National Association of Home Builders is forecasting more than 500,000 sales.

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