Pending Sales of U.S. Existing Homes Drop for Fifth Month

[Purveyor]

Source: Bloomberg

The number of contracts Americans signed to buy previously-owned homes unexpectedly fell in October for a fifth consecutive month amid higher borrowing costs that are denting the real-estate recovery.

Higher mortgage rates and price increases driven by a tighter supply of homes for sale may be keeping some prospective buyers out of the real-estate arena. Further gains in hiring and confidence would help boost the housing-market recovery as well as the U.S. economic expansion.

“When mortgage rates went up, people got spooked and rushed into the market to seal deals,” Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight in Lexington, Massachusetts, said before the report. “The numbers that we’re seeing for pending home sales are payback for the stronger numbers earlier this year.”

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey of 39 economists for pending home sales ranged from a decline of 2.5 percent to an advance of 3.5 percent.





Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-25/pending-sales-of-u-s-existing-homes-drop-for-fifth-month.html

[klook]

1. Meanwhile, teardowns replaced by $700k McMansions are soaring. (n/t)

[SoCalMusicLover]

3. Pocket Change For The Wealthy

Those at the top have more money than they know what to do with.

When you're at that level, you don't worry about spending money. After all, if they maintained their current lifestyle, they would only have enough money to last them several lifetimes, so might as well try to spend SOME of it, and building a brand new mansion is always a good use of all that dough.

[CanonRay]

2. Three houses sold on my block this month

One had been on the market for quite some time. There are none for sale at all on my street now.

[klook]

4. My neighborhood is cursed with teardowns.

Historic homes -- and the big trees on their lots -- are being lost at an alarming rate.

[olddad56]

5. I'm wondering if this stat isn't skewed by the drop off in investment co. buying of forclosures.