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Pending Home Sales Up For Third Straight Month

  • June 2nd 2009

by Mark Wellborn

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Pending Home Sales Up For Third Straight Month: Figure 1

In optimistic news on the housing front, the National Association of Realtors reported that pending home sales rose 6.7 percent in April. The increase was due to a surge in homes under contract in the Northeast and Midwest.

The Pending Home Sales Index is out of a score of 100, with 100 being the average level of contract activity in 2001. In April, the index jumped 32.6 percent in the Northeast, 9.8 percent in the Midwest and 1.8 percent in the West. The index in the South, which includes the DC Metro area, actually slipped 0.2 percent in April, but was 3.5 percent higher than a year ago.

This is the third straight month that this index has increased, a very good sign that the housing market may have reached bottom and is now on its way to recovery.

From NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun:

“Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market,” he said. “Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by November 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers.”

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/pending_home_sales_up_for_third_straight_month/977.

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