Pending contracts for the sale of previously owned homes rose in March by the highest margin in almost 3 years demonstrating that, with the spring selling season almost upon us, the residential real estate market is exhibiting signs of stabilizing. The pending home sales index grew by 3.4% which is the most significant increase since May 2011 and the very first increase in the past three quarters according to the National Association of Realtors. In February 2014, there has been a decline of 0.5% which has been less than the number initially documented. The projection for the median growth is an increase of 1% and the index is a bit more than 7% below the figure for the previous year.
Soaring house prices and higher interest levels have resulted in a slackening of demand since the middle of 2013 and some potential buyers now see ownership as hard to acquire. Nevertheless demand might be stimulated by a better outlook for employment and simpler accessibility to mortgage financing. The outlook for housing remains to be positive as the labor market is showing signs and symptoms of improvement, interest rates continue to be inexpensive and there's a rise in buyer confidence. https://www.kw.com
The National Association of Realtors states that purchase contracts dropped from the previous year after a 10% decrease in the 12 months to February 2014. Sales of existing homes are projected at just 4.9 million for 2014 compared to 5.1 million for 2013. The pending sales index was 97.4 and a figure of 100 is comparable to the average level of contracts in 2001. Of the 4 regions, three showed a rise from February and the West demonstrated a boost of 5.7%, the South 5.6% and the North-East 1.4%. The Midwest showed a decrease of 0.8%.
Following a bad winter, way more buyers came out to check out homes beginning last month and contract activity should certainly pick up. Sales are also expected to improve as more jobs are created and as more real estate inventory comes into the marketplace. In March, sales of existing homes decreased for the third consecutive month by 0.2% to an annual rate of just under 4.6 million. Buying decreased by 8.5% on a year on year basis. Brand new home sales also fell because the buyers were put off by high prices and sales fell by 14.5% to an annualized figure of $384,000. The median price of a new home touched a record figure of $290,000 which is 12.6% more than the previous year.
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