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Pending Home Sales Index Posts Another Great Month
After 3 consecutive months of growth, the housing market appears to have eased a bit in December.
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, December’s Pending Home Sales Index slipped 4 percent from the month prior. The index measures the number of homes under contract to sell nationwide, but not yet sold.
Despite falling below its benchmark “100 value”, December’s Pending Home Sales Index is the reading’s second-highest value since April 2010 — the last month of last year’s home buyer tax credit program.
In other words, the housing market continues to show signs of improvement, propelled by low home prices and the cheapest mortgage rates of all-time.
Freddie Mac’s mortgage rate survey put the 30-year fixed rate mortgage at an average of 3.96% in December — a 75-basis point improvement from December 2010. This helps to make homes more affordable nationwide.
On a regional basis, December’s Pending Home Sales Index varied :
- Northeast Region: -3.1 percent from November 2011
- Midwest Region : +4.0 percent from November 2011
- South Region : -2.6 percent from November 2011
- West Region : -11.0 percent from November 2011
But even regional data is only so helpful. Like everything in real estate, data must be local to be relevant. Read the rest of this entry »
Buyer Opportunities Open With Pending Sales Slipping
After 3 straight months of gains, the Pending Home Sales Index slipped 1 percent in July. The monthly report is published by the National Association of REALTORS® and measures the number of home under contract to sell nationwide.
The Pending Home Sales Index is closely watched by Wall Street and analysts because it’s a forward-looking housing market indicator. Unlike most housing market data, though, Pending Home Sales forecasts a future housing market event. In this case, the Existing Home Sales report.
In its methodology, the Pending Home Sales Index states that 80% of homes under contract close within 2 months, with most of the remaining home going to closing within Months 3 and 4.
We would expect home sales data to taper into the fall buying season, but this year, they may taper more than normal. This is because, in a separate report, the National Association of REALTORS® said that contract cancellation rates are running high.
As compared to a 4 percent contract cancellation rate in May 2011, June and July both registered 16 percent. This means that fewer homes tallied as part of July’s Pending Home Sales Index will show up as “closed sales” this fall.
Contracts can be canceled for any number of reasons including more stringent mortgage guidelines, appraisals falling short of the purchase price, and changing mortgage loan limits.
For home buyers here in Hiawassee, Blairsville, Blue Ridge and Ellijay, the Pending Home Sales Index may represent an opportunity. Not only are fewer homes going under contract nationwide, but with cancellation rates spiking, sellers may be more willing to “make a deal”.
Note though like all real estate, the pace at which homes go under contract is a “local” statistic; you can’t assume national data applies to all markets equally. The North Georgia Mountain Home Market for example, may out-perform — or under-perform — the national average.
For a closer look at what’s happening on your street including the speed at which homes are selling, talk to a local real estate agent.
Related articles
- Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Spike In May (thefrontporchview.com)
- Existing Homes Sales Slip In May (thefrontporchview.com)
- Home Resales Still Slipping In July (thefrontporchview.com)
Home Resales Still Slipping In July
Home resales slipped in July. According to the National Association of REALTORS®, Existing Home Sales nationwide fell to 4.67 million units on a seasonally-adjusted annualized basis last month. It’s the fourth straight month below the 5 million mark, and the report’s lowest reading since November 2010. An “existing home” is a home that’s been previously occupied or owned.
In addition, the Existing Home Sales report showed home supplies rising nationwide. At the current pace of sales, in other words, the complete, national “For Sale” inventory would be exhausted in 9.4 months. This, too, is the worst reading since November 2010.
On a units basis, however, the number of homes for sale actually fell in July. As compared to June, home resale inventory dropped 65,000 units to 3.65 million.
From these figures, we can infer that, despite low mortgage rates and lagging home values, buyer activity is slowing in North Georgia and nationwide. This may be seasonal, or it may be a long-term trend. Either way, there’s opportunity for today’s home buyers.
With mortgage rates at all-time lows, home affordability is peaking. More households can afford housing payments than during any time in history and with the fall season approaching, buyers in Hiawassee may find contracts negotiations to be more “friendly”.
This can mean lower sale prices and larger concessions from sellers — the hallmark of a Buyer’s Market.
It’s a good time to look at your options. Contact Me today to see what’s out there for you. Low home prices may persist, but low mortgage rates likely won’t.
Related articles
- Existing Home Sales Fall To 8-Month Low (thefrontporchview.com)
- Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Spike In May (thefrontporchview.com)
- Existing Homes Sales Slip In May (thefrontporchview.com)
Closing At The Start Of September? Watch Out For Labor Day.
Home sales have heated up, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
More homes are going under contract this summer than went during the winter or spring seasons. Many of these homes are scheduled for late-August/early-September closings.
If your home is among them, plan ahead.
Like for the rest of the U.S. workforce, Labor Day is a popular vacation time in the real estate, title and mortgage industries. Closings come together more slowly when the parties involved are on holiday. In addition, when issues arise, they are often slower to resolve because not everyone is “present”.
Therefore, if you’re under contract to buy or sell your home, or have a refinance in-process with a lender, get proactive with your home and your loan. Finalize your approval as quickly as possible.
Here are some tips to help your loan clear faster:
- Prepay your first year of homeowners insurance, effective your closing date. Provide proof of payment to your lender.
- Document and deposit all gifts and retirement withdrawals to be used at your closing as early in the process as possible.
- Get Power of Attorney forms signed by all parties, and lender-approved, if applicable.
- When your lender makes a paperwork request, fulfill the request within 24 hours.
There are steps you can take to make your closing go more smoothly, too.
First, if your transaction is purchase, don’t leave your walk-through for the last-minute. Schedule it for as early as reasonable. This way, if there’s an issue, there’s ample time to resolve it. Remember, it’s harder to solve problems when one or more parties to the transaction is away on vacation.
Second, if you have planned time off between now and your closing, make it known, and be reachable in the event of emergency by phone, email or both.
Lastly, if possible, avoid scheduling your closing for the Friday before Labor Day or the Tuesday after. Real estate, title and lender offices are notoriously short-staffed and overworked on these two days. Routine tasks take longer than usual.
You can’t stop people from going on vacation, but you can plan for it. It would be foolish not to.
Homes Under Contract Rise For 3rd Straight Month
Buyers are writing contracts at a furious pace nationwide.
On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Pending Home Sales Index rose 2 percent last month to reach its highest level since March.
A “pending home sale” is a home under contract to sell, but not yet closed.
The forward-looking Pending Home Sales Index is up 11 percent from its low of the year, according to the National Association of REALTORS®, and well ahead of its rolling 6-month average.
Unfortunately, national data isn’t always helpful for buyers and sellers in Blairsville Georgia and nationwide. To help make data more relevant, the official Pending Home Sales Index report includes a region-by-region breakdown.
Between May and June 2011, results were mixed:
- Northeast Region: -0.4%
- Midwest Region : -3.7%
- South Region : +4.4%
- West Region : +6.4%
However, even the value of regional data may be dubious.
The West Region, for example, which showed big gains in June, is comprised of multiple states containing thousands of cities and towns. Some of those areas outperformed the region, and some of them underperformed. The Pending Home Sales Index doesn’t show which towns did which. It can’t.
For everyday buyers and sellers in North Georgia Mountains, it’s the local data that matters. Homes Under Contract were up 27% in July. There were 145 Homes Pending in July 2011, that is 31 more than a year ago. This data is collected from my servicing areas of Gilmer, Fannin, Towns and Union Counties located in the Mountains of North Georgia.
The Pending Home Sales Index shows that more contracts were written in June than in April or May — a good sign for housing overall. And because 80% of all contracts close within 60 days, we can expect the summer’s home resale activity to be high.
This leads home prices higher.
With mortgage rates low and home sales spiking, now may be the best time to buy a home in 2011. Home prices appear to be rising and mortgage rates should too.
Related articles
- “Homes Under Contract” Surge In North Georgia (thefrontporchview.com)
- Home Prices Rise For The 2nd Straight Month (thefrontporchview.com)
- Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Spike In May (thefrontporchview.com)
