According to the National Association of Realtors, the month of November saw some stabilization where pending home sales are concerned. They received a slight gain. There were also some monthly increases in the South and the West that managed to make up for certain declines in the Northeast and the Midwest.
Have you ever heard of the Pending Home Sales Index? Well, if not, it is based on contract signings of existing homes on a large national sample that makes up about 20% of all transactions in the country. According to that index, the number of signings increased by 0.2% to a score of 101.7 in November. Keep in mind that it does not account for closings, just contracts. This is good news for the economy.
NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, had plenty to say about the market in a recent interview. He said, “We may have reached a cyclical low because the positive fundamentals of job creation and household formation are likely to foster a fairly stable level of contract activity in 2014. Although the final months of 2013 are finishing on a soft note, the year as a whole will end with the best sales total in seven years.”
As of now, mortgage interest rates are a bit higher but still relatively low when compared to years past. We have also seen strong gains in home prices that add to the overall market growth that we should expect to continue to see in 2014.
The market is still kind to buyers right now which means that we could see as much as $5.1 million in existing-home sales for 2013. That figure is nearly 10% more than 2012 experienced, and it is expected that 2014 should be similar.
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Update on Pending Home Sales in November
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