Pending home sales up for 17th consecutive month

October 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

NAR: Number of homes under contract in September up 14.5 percent from a year go

BY INMAN NEWS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2012.

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<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic.mhtml?id=106899653" target="_blank">Housing trend</a> image via Shutterstock.

A pending home sales index maintained by the National Association of Realtors showed an annual gain in September for the 17th month in a row.

NAR’s latest Pending Home Sales Index, released today, showed the number of existing homes under contract in September up 0.3 percent from August and 14.5 percent from a year ago.

The index, which represents contracts signed but not yet closed, has settled at 99.5 in September. An index score of 100 is equal to the average level of sales contract activity in 2001, a year in which sales were in line with historical norms. Signed contracts typically close one or two months after the sign date.

“The level of pending contracts has remained very steady implying that this recovery is holding its momentum,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. Yun said the steady and strong year-over-year increase in the index “is pointing in the right direction.”

All regions saw double-digit year-over-year PHSI increases, except for the West, where it rose just 0.8 percent to 106.9 for the year (and 4.3 percent for the month) on account of tight inventory.

The Northeast saw the largest yearly jump in September of any region with a 26.1 percent increase to an index level of 79.3, which represented a 1.4 percent bump from August to September in the region.

In the Midwest, the index rose 19.3 percent from September 2011 to reach 89.5, which, however, represents a 5.8 percent dip from August’s level.

And in the South, pending home sales jumped 17.6 percent from September 2011 to settle at an index level of 111.5, a 1 percent jump from the index level in August.

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New home sales jump to near 2-1/2 year high in September

October 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

New housing construction is seen in Poolesville, Maryland, October 23, 2012. New U.S. single-family home sales surged in September to their highest level in nearly 2-1-2 years, further evidence the housing market recovery is gaining steam. REUTERS-Gary Cameron
New housing construction is seen in Darnestown, Maryland, October 23, 2012. New U.S. single-family home sales surged in September to their highest level in nearly 2-1-2 years, further evidence the housing market recovery is gaining steam. REUTERS-Gary Cameron

WASHINGTON | Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:50am EDT

(Reuters) – New single-family home sales surged in September to their highest level in nearly 2-1/2 years, further evidence the housing market recovery is gaining steam.

The Commerce Department said on Wednesday sales increased 5.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted 389,000-unit annual rate – the highest level since April 2010, when sales were boosted by a tax credit for first-time homebuyers.

Though August’s sales pace was revised down to a 368,000-unit pace from the previously reported 373,000 units, the tenor of the report was relatively strong, with the median home price of a new home rising 11.7 percent from a year ago.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast sales rising to a 385,000-unit rate last month.

While the increase in sales last month added to signs of a broadening housing market recovery, new home sales are just over a quarter of their peak in July 2005. Compared to September last year, new home sales were up 27.1 percent.

The housing market is on the mend after collapsing in 2006 and dragging the economy through its worst recession since the Great Depression. Home sales are increasing, pushing down the stock of unsold properties, giving a modest lift to house prices and builders’ confidence to take on new projects.

However, the housing market recovery lacks the muscle to take the baton from manufacturing as the main driver of the economic recovery.

The recovery in the sector is being supported by record-low mortgage rates, which have been held down by the Federal Reserve’s ultra-accommodative monetary policy stance.

The U.S. central bank has targeted housing as a channel to boost growth, announcing last month that it would buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities per month until the outlook for employment improved significantly.

Though the inventory of new homes on the market rose 1.4 percent in September, it remained near record lows.

At September’s sales pace it would take 4.5 months to clear the houses on the market, the lowest since October 2005, down from 4.7 months in August.

Sales last month were up in three of the four regions. They tumbled 37.3 percent in the Midwest.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

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