November 2010 Market Pulse

Existing-Home Sales Rate For August

4.13 million

This is a seasonally adjusted annual rate, which is the actual rate of sales for the month, multiplied by 12 and adjusted for seasonal sales differences.

Pending Home Sales Index For August

82.3

This index measures housing contract activity. An index of 100 is equal to the level of activity during 2001, the benchmark year.

Source: NAR Research

Slow, Gradual Recovery Expected

Existing-home sales rose a solid 7.6 percent in August to an annual sales pace of 4.13 million units following a big decline in July. More strengthening could come. NAR’s forward-looking Pending Home Sales Index for August was up 4.3 percent, the second monthly gain in a row, and now stands at 82.3. The market should benefit from favorable affordability conditions and some job creation, but any sudden rise in mortgage rates could slow the recovery.

*Revised from figure published in the previous issue.

Outlook Remains Subdued

The modest boost in home sales activity isn’t translating into improved confidence among real estate practitioners. In September, the outlook for buyer traffic declined from the previous month, and expectations for business over the next six months also fell slightly. Practitioner confidence in seller traffic, however, rose from August.

Results are based on 2,395 responses to 6,000 surveys sent to large and small real estate offices. The survey asks practitioners to indicate whether conditions are strong (100 points), moderate (50), or weak (0). Responses are averaged to derive results.

In 2012 NAR rebenchmarked its existing-home sales data going back to 2007, so reports published between 2007 and 2011 no longer contain up-to-date figures. Find the latest existing-home sales data at REALTOR.org. You’ll find more recent editions of Market Pulse here.