Pending Home Sales Dip Slightly, But Higher Than Last Year

• March 26, 2012
• 3 Comments

by Shilpi Paul

The National Association of Realtors announced today that pending home sales dropped slightly in February from a peak in January, but the overall pattern was higher than February 2011. Last month, the index dropped to 96.5 from a peak of 97.0 in January. In February 2011, the index was 88.4. The pending sales index measures homes that have gone under contract but not yet closed.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun on the news:

“The spring home buying season looks bright because of an elevated level of contract offers so far this year. If activity is sustained near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in five years. Based on all of the factors in the current market, that’s what we’re expecting with sales rising 7 to 10 percent in 2012.”

While optimistic, the news comes on the heels of a report from the Commerce Department on Friday that new home sales in February fell 1.6 percent, marking the second month in a row that sales have declined and reaching the lowest level since October 2011.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/pending_home_sales_dip_slightly_still_higher_than_last_year/5331

3 Comments

1. Mark Nelson said at 4:05 pm on Monday March 26, 2012:
   "While optimistic, the news comes on the heels of a report from the Commerce Department on Friday that new home sales in February fell 1.6 percent..." Your implication is that new and existing home sales are neither differentiated, nor examined using different measures. As you know, the NAR Pending Home Sales Index does not address new home sales. It covers "existing home sales" only, *not* new construction. I would like to have seen this distinction clearly made in your post.

1. Mark Wellborn said at 4:13 pm on Monday March 26, 2012:
   Mark, We did not mean to imply that new home sales and pending home sales were measured with the same index, only that last week's news on new home sales was not as optimistic as the numbers released by NAR today. Mark Wellborn Editor

1. John Arbuthnot said at 7:45 pm on Monday March 26, 2012:
   Mark, I thought your writing was perfectly clear.