64 - 2004-2005 Home Sales Remain Bullish The National Association of Realtors revised upward its year-end forecast for home sales and the trade group projects the healthy housing market will stay alive in 2005. By the end of 2004, existing-home sales should be up 7.9 percent to 6.58 million, easily surpassing 2003's record. In 2005, NAR projects 6.38 million sales, the second highest level in history. The median price on existing homes will rise 7.9 percent to $182,500 in 2004 and another 5 percent in 2005. New-home sales are expected to rise 8.9 percent to a record 1.18 million in 2004, but only 1.13 million in 2005. New-home prices should be up 8.9 percent to $214,600 in 2004 and another 5.8 percent 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 David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "Given the sharp rise over last year's record, a lot of buyers have found the home they've been looking for and we can expect a bit of a breather in 2005, which will remain a historically strong year," as builders work to ease the backup in housing demand, he added. Read this Nemmar Real Estate Training article at Mortgage Loans, Finance, Economy, Appraisal