Pending Home Sales Much Stronger than Expected: The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that July Pending Home Sales increased by 3.3%, the consensus estimates were projecting a much smaller gain of only 0.6%. Pending Home Sales are homes that have a sales contract in place and are in the process of closing but have not yet closed. They have now risen four out of the last five months. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says favorable housing conditions are behind July’s higher contract activity. “Interest rates are lower than they were a year ago, price growth continues to moderate and total housing inventory is at its highest level since August 2012,” he said. “The increase in the number of new and existing homes for sale is creating less competition and is giving prospective buyers more time to review their options before submitting an offer.” Yun adds, “More importantly, steady job additions to the economy are helping family finances and giving them added confidence to enter the market.” The two biggest head winds for the housing market have been job growth and inventories. Inventories were at historic lows for much of last year, so an increase of available homes on the market have helped sales to improve.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 18:15:00 +0000
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