Pending U.S. Sales of Existing Homes Increased 4.3% in August

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Bloomberg

Pending U.S. Sales of Existing Homes Increased 4.3% in August
By Courtney Schlisserman - Oct 4, 2010 9:00 AM CT

The number of contracts to purchase previously owned homes in the U.S. increased for a second month, a sign the housing market is beginning to stabilize.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home resales rose 4.3 percent in August, more than forecast, after a revised 4.5 percent gain the prior month that was less than initially estimated. Compared with the same month a year ago, pending sales were down 18.4 percent.

Home sales have steadied after plunging in the months following the expiration of a housing tax credit. Unemployment projected to stay above 9 percent through 2011 may depress demand in coming months even as record-low mortgage rates and lower prices make homes more affordable.

Conditions in the housing market are “stable, they’re starting to improve, but we clearly have got a long way to go,” Aaron Smith, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “The outlook for housing depends importantly on the labor market.”


Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-10-04/pending-u-s-sales-of-existing-homes-increased-4-3-in-august.html

[Roland99]

1. "a sign the housing market is beginning to stabilize." - ha! Good one

How many times have we heard that in the last 18 months?

Sales are still nearly 20% down from last year and last year was certainly no hotshot sales year.

[still_one]

2. You are absolutely correct. It will take years to clear the foreclosures off their books /nt

[Roland99]

4. And that fact is going to kill average prices for some time

Even though a lot of people would rather buy something not in foreclosure or a short sale simply because those processes can take forever.

[still_one]

5. I heard a statistic that 1 out of 5 homes is in danger of foreclosure /nt

[spinbaby]

3. It depends on where you look

Some areas like California, Nevada, and Florida are absolute disasters, but there are bright spots in the market. For instance, the market for entry-level houses in the Pittsburgh area is quite competitive.

[avaistheone1]

6. Those Who Blindly Follow Housing Prices Without Taking Other Metrics Into Consideration Are Missing

the Housing Depression of the New Millennium.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/those-who-blindly-follow-housing-prices-without-taking-other-metrics-consideration-are-missi?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29



Very interesting.