Murfreesboro Realtor explains Pending Home Sales on an Upswing. In Middle TN for Buyers & Sellers

May 8, 2010 - PRLog -- Pending Home Sales on an Upswing

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Home of the no risk listings. When you let us help you sell your house we will allow you to cancel the contract at anytime.

Pending home sales increased again in March 2010, affirming that a surge of home sales is unfolding for the spring home buying season, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in March, rose 5.3% to 102.9 from 97.7 in February, and is 21.1% above March 2009 when it was 85.0; this follows an 8.3% increase in February. The data reflects contracts and not closings, which usually occur with a lag time of one or two months.
Favorable conditions have been working with the tax credit. The home buyer tax credit has helped stabilize the market. In the months following the expiration of the tax credit lower sales are expect, In the second half of the year, and into 2011, home sales will likely become self-sustaining if the economy can add jobs at a respectable pace, and from a return of buyer demand as they see home values stabilizing.

The PHSI in the Northeast declined 3.3% to 75.1 in March but remains 27.2% higher than March 2009. In the Midwest the index increased 1.2% to 98.9 and is 18.5% above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South jumped 12.7% to an index of 121.2, which is 28.3% higher than March 2009. In the West the index rose 1.9% to 99.9 and is 8.8% above a year ago.

Another encouraging sign is the improvement in the availability for jumbo and second-home mortgages. As bank balance sheets strengthen, it is just a matter of time before lending of non-government-backed mortgages steadily opens up.

The National Association of Realtors, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is one of America’s largest trade associations, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20% of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. There is a closer relationship between annual index changes (from the same month a year earlier) and year-ago changes in sales performance than with month-to-month comparisons.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.

Thus overall while the recovery will be slow it is still a recovery. There has never been a better time to be a home buyer. Rates are low and it's a buyers market.

Please feel free to call or email me anytime.
Mike O'Donnell
615-473-5684
Tema@comcast.net

mbororealestate.com

Home of the no risk listings. The number one reason home owners who are thinking of selling are hesitant to sign up with Real Estate Agent is they are afraid of the long term contract. Now we’ve removed that problem. When you let us help you sell your house we will allow you to cancel the contract at anytime. If we are not living up to what you expect from a realtor or if for some reason you change your mind we will cancel the contract that day. Now that’s peace of mind.

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