September/October 2012 Market Pulse
September/October 2012 Market Pulse
Key market data at the midpoint of 2012 suggest a solid second half of the year. Existing-home and pending home sales were up more than 2 percent; home prices were up more than 9 percent on a year-over-year basis, to $187,300; and inventories were down, pointing to possible continued price growth. Distressed sales were down as a share of the market, too. All trend lines are July 2011 to July 2012.
Existing-home sales 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 is an index that measures housing contract activity. An index of 100 is equal to the level of activity during 2001, the benchmark year. Inventory measures the number of existing homes on the market at the end of the month. Buyer and seller traffic, current conditions, six-month expectations, short sales and foreclosures (shown as a percentage of total sales) derive from a monthly REALTOR® Confidence Index. Results are based on 3,409 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). Some data may be revised from previous issues.
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