Nine solid months = recovery?
For the ninth month in a row, pending home sales are up, according to the National Association of Realtors.
From the NAR: “The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in October, increased 3.7 percent to 114.1 from 110.0 in September, and is 31.8 percent above October 2008 when it was 86.6. The rise from a year ago is the biggest annual increase ever recorded for the index, which is at the highest level since March 2006 when it was 115.2.”
“This fact is extremely relevant because it’s an indicator of consumer confidence. This time around, we have well qualified buyers, getting homes at good prices with low interest rates and enough equity going in to make sense long term. These are solid purchases and will continue to drive home sales up,” said Keller Williams Realtor Jennifer Klaussen.
NAR Chief Economist said, “still, as inventories continue to decline and balance is gradually restored between buyers and sellers, we should reach self-sustaining housing conditions and firming home prices in most areas around the middle of 2010. That would mean broad wealth stabilization for the vast number of middle-class families.”
This is all good news, but I still have to wonder about predicting recovery conditions when foreclosures, delinquencies as well as bankruptcies are at record highs, and builders are suffering massively, what say you?
