Pending Home Sales Index Posts Second Best Month Since April 2010
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.
Throughout the West Region, for example, the U.S. region in which pending home sales fell the most, several states must have performed better than the regional average. And, undoubtedly, there were cities, towns, and neighborhoods that experienced marked market growth.
Unfortunately, the Pending Home Sales Index can’t capture that data. Nor can it identify the markets in which home sales suffered.
For today’s home buyers and sellers, therefore, it’s important to understand your local market and the drivers of local activity. Reports like the Pending Home Sales Index can paint a broad picture U.S. housing but for data that matters to you, you’ll want to look local.
For local real estate data, talk to an experienced real estate professional.
Related posts:
- Pending Home Sales Index Slips For 4th Straight Month
- Pending Home Sales Index Rises Back Above 100
- Pending Home Sales Rise For 3rd Straight Month
Michael Haigh has 20+ years of professional experience in the banking and mortgage industry. He has the knowledge, education, and dedication to get you the best loan for your situation, answer your questions honestly and completely, and make your mortgaging experience a pleasure. His reputation includes being the number one lender in the country for CitiBank for 9 years, then at Chase for 1 year and now with WJ Bradley since August of 2009. This is because of the quantity of loans, myriad of people he's helped, and his dedication to helping his clients find the perfect loan for them.
