Quikrete Industry Dashboard

Despite slight declines for January, the housing industry charts on the latest Quikrete Industry Dashboard show clear upward trajectories. Year-over-year numbers show significant increases for total starts, single-family starts and existing home sales.

Released Friday morning by the National Association of Realtors, total existing-home sales edged downward 1.3% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 5.46 million. This includes completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums, and co-ops.

But for the second straight month, overall sales increased year-over-year and are up 9.6% from a rate of 4.98 million in January 2019.

Despite the slip in sales, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the outlook for 2020 home sales is promising.

“The trend line for housing starts is increasing and showing steady improvement, which should ultimately lead to more home sales,” Yun noted.

Read more on existing home sales here.

Elsewhere on the Dashboard, gas prices are holding steady at $2.46 per gallon of regular, according to the American Automobile Association.