January Pending Home Sales Up in All Regions.

January Pending Home Sales Up in All Regions. Image courtesy of ddpavumba / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Pending home sales rose in January, and have been above year-ago levels for the past 21 months, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. There were healthy monthly gains in all regions but the West, which, despite being constrained by limited inventory, still improved slightly.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 4.5 percent to 105.9 in January from a downwardly revised 101.3 in December and is 9.5 percent above January 2012, when it was 96.7. The data reflect contracts but not closings.

The January index of Pending Home Sales is the highest reading since April 2010, when it hit 110.9, just before the deadline for the home buyer tax credit. Aside from spikes induced by the tax credits, the last time there was a higher reading was in February 2007 when it reached 107.9.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said inventory is the key to this year’s housing market. “Favorable affordability conditions and job growth have unleashed a pent-up demand. Most areas are drawing down housing inventory, which has shifted the supply-demand balance to sellers in much of the country. It’s also why we’re experiencing the strongest price growth in more than seven years,” he said.

“Over the near term, rising contract activity means higher home sales, but total sales for the year are expected to rise less than in 2012, while home prices are projected to rise more strongly because of inventory shortages,” Yun said.

The PHSI in the Northeast rose 8.2 percent to 84.8 in January and is 10.5 percent higher than January 2012. In the Midwest, the index increased 4.5 percent to 105.0 in January and is 17.7 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent to an index of 119.3 in January and are 11.3 percent higher January 2012. In the West, the index edged up 0.1 percent in January to 102.1 but is 1.5 percent below a year ago.

Yun expects approximately 5.0 million existing-home sales this year. However, price growth could exceed a 7 percent gain projected for 2013 if inventory supplies remain low. Previously, NAR had expected 5.1 million existing-home sales in 2013, while prices were forecast to rise 5.5 to 6.0 percent.

The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

The index is based on a large national sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.

Also released today are annual data revisions. Each February, NAR Research incorporates a review of seasonal activity factors and fine-tunes historic data for the past three years based on the most recent findings. There are no changes to unadjusted or annual data.

Asking/Selling Price Gap Closing

Asking/Selling Price Gap Closing. Image courtesy of renjith krishnan/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A growing number of home owners are selling for an amount closer to their asking price, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Nationally, the average home sold for 98.3 percent of the sellers’ list price in December 2012, up from 97.1 percent in January 2011.

Be sure your clients achieve the same goal by posting to your Web site a free article from the REALTOR^® Content Resource: “How to Use Comparable Sales to Price Your Home”. That’s just one of five free articles to help you answer sellers’ common questions now available in the February “Land Lots More Listings” article package.

You can also add to your e-newsletter (or post to your Web site, blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed; e-mail; or brand, print, and hand deliver) any of the nearly 1,000 other free home listing, selling, and ownership articles always available. Just search the REALTOR^®  Content Resource by keyword or topic for other content ranging from home improvement and maintenance to taxes and finance.

While you’re adding REALTOR^® Content Resource materials to your marketing communications, be careful not to download photos or videos on the site. The REALTOR^® Content Resource doesn’t have permission to allow others to use them, and owners of the images actively search online — and charge violators for — unauthorized uses. Learn more in the Reprint Rights Policy.

The REALTOR^® Content Resource is brought to you by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^®. With it, you can download free home ownership content from HouseLogic to your marketing materials.

HouseLogic is a comprehensive consumer website — from NAR— geared to helping home owners make smart decisions to enhance, maintain, and protect the value of their home.

Seller Shortage Plagues Many Housing Markets.

Seller Shortage Plagues Many Housing Markets. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

The low inventory of for-sale homes is creating a seller’s market throughout the country.

“Buyers and agents are literally waiting for the next house,” says Rick Turley, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage for the San Francisco Bay Area.

The supply of existing homes for sale reached nearly an eight-year low in January, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Nationwide, there is a 4.2-month supply of existing homes for sale.

More balanced Housing Markets with a six-month supply will occur when home prices rise another 20 percent, says John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting. Such an increase would then lure sellers to match demand coming in from renters and investors, and the rise in prices will also lead to more home building, Burns says.

Still, a return to healthy inventory levels could be years off, some say. “Many home owners can’t afford to sell because they don’t have enough equity to put into buying another house — or would have to write a check to sell,” USA Today reports. “The supply of distressed houses for sale is thinning as the foreclosure crisis recedes, especially in some states. Home building, while improving, is still at low levels. And, after years of holding on, few home owners want to sell when prices are just coming off the bottom, REALTORS® say.”

Source: “Home sellers are scarce as spring buyers stir,” USA Today (Feb. 26, 2013)

Ivy League School Offers Free Homes

Ivy League School Offers Free Homes .Image courtesy of jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Princeton University is offering free houses to the public, but they have to be able to haul the domiciles away.

The homes—which have in the past been used as university offices or for other purposes—are all located south of campus on Alexander Street and have been made available to the public for free in as-is condition.

The homes are slated to be demolished to make room for future Princeton University Art and Transit project, which will include a train station and retail ventures. As such, the homes will need to be moved for any one who wants to claim them. The homes will need to be relocated by the end of April.

The homes are currently empty.

Anyone interested in the free homes are encouraged to contact the Princeton University Office of Community and Regional Affairs via phone (609-258-3204) or email (pucra@princeton.edu).

Source: “Princeton University Giving Away Homes for Free — With Just One Big Catch,” AOL Real Estate

60% of Single-Family Renters Plan to Buy Within 5 Years

60% of Single-Family Renters Plan to Buy Within 5 Years. Image courtesy of photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Renters of single-family homes are twenty-five percent more likely than apartment tenants to stay in their current homes fives years or longer, according to a new survey by Opinion Research Corporation. The finding suggests that “demand for single-family homes, the fastest growing rental category, will be more stable than multi-family demand,” according to the survey findings.

Renters also say they plan to become home owners one day, particularly among single-family tenants. Sixty percent of single-family renters and 44 percent of apartment renters say they plan to become home owners within the next five years.

“The near term interest in becoming home owners among single-family tenants reflects the new roles single-family rentals are fulfilling as a stepping stone to home ownership for first-time buyers and as a sanctuary for large numbers of families displaced by foreclosures but who plan to buy again when they can afford to do so,” according to the survey results.

The survey also found that single-family renters make more money and are twice as likely to have children as apartment renters, according to the survey. The survey found that the median income of a single-family renter is $75,000 to $100,000 compared to $50,000-$75,000 for apartment dwellers. Single-family renters also tend to be older, with the majority aged 35 to 44, compared to 14 to 34 among apartment dwellers.

Source: Opinion Research Corporation