I picked up a couple of interesting bits of news this week about the economy. Thought I would share:
Last week’s Pending Home Sales index from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) went up 7.3% in November, the highest level since April of 2010. The 2010 numbers were pumped up because of buyers that were in the market to take advantage of home buyer tax credits available then, that are not available now.
NAR chief economist, Lawrence Yun (and one of Inman’s 100 most influential) said, “Housing affordability conditions are at a record high and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who’ve been on the sidelines, but contract failures have been running unusually high. Some of the increase in pending home sales appears to be from buyers recommitting after an initial contract ran into problems, often with the mortgage”.
I think that some some contract failures are preventable, especially when both the buyer and seller want to see the transaction through — having the right team in place, real estate professional, lender and title/escrow in place, can make a huge difference on an individual basis. Local markets and individual circumstances drive the reasons for contract failures.
According to NAR, It should be noted that “Pending home sales are not affected by the recently published rebenchmarking of existing-home sales because the index uses a different methodology based directly on contract signings, and is adjusted for seasonality.
and
According to USA Today, news sources and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the, U.S. unemployment numbers are the lowest in 3 years. “The U.S. job market strengthened in the second half of 2011 and added 200,000 jobs in December while the unemployment rate fell to 8.5% from a revised 8.7% a month earlier.”
Bright spots. I’m looking forward to serving your Real Estate needs to 2012. If you have questions about Corvallis, Albany, Philomath or other mid-Willamette Real Estate feel free to get in touch.
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