Home Industry to Simmer, Not Shimmer By Ilaina Jonas NEW YORK (Reuters) - Put the bubble on the back burner. Although a record for sales of existing and new homes is all but sealed for 2004, demand isn't expected to burn out in 2005. Instead, many predict the boil will turn into a simmer. "It's hard to say that this level of housing is sustainable," A.G. Edwards & Sons analyst Gregory Gieber said. "It's going to be a very orderly retreat. Most of us believe that housing starts will soften going into 2005." Next year is expected to have the title of "second best" with the National Association of Realtors predicting 2005 existing home sales of 6.38 million. "It's going to be a great second year," said Jay Brinkmann, Mortgage Bankers Association vice president for research and economics. That's down from projected record sales of 6.58 million existing homes in 2004, a jump of 7.9 percent over the previous year, according to the National Association of Realtors. On the new home front, single-family new home construction starts in 2005 are expected to be 1.55 million, down slightly from the predicted 1.6 million for 2004, according to the National Association of Home Builders. New single-family home sales are expected to be about 1.12 million in 2005, down from 1.18 million this year. RISING RATES, SANER PRICES Home prices are expected to moderate, with 2005 existing-home sale prices rising 5 percent versus the 7.9 percent increase to $182,500 in 2004, according to the National Association of Realtors. The median new-home price is expected to rise 5.8 percent in 2005, compared with the 8.9 percent jump in 2004 to $214,600.     Continued ... Quelle "Home Industry to Simmer, Not Shimmer" : reuters.com Main page for "Home Industry to Simmer, Not Shimmer"