Home sales offer signs of housing recovery

05.06.09
By Nicholas Storie

More consumers are taking out mortgage loans as affordable housing conditions spur pending home sales numbers.

According to the latest reading of its Pending Home Sales Index, the National Association of Realtors has said that the housing market indicator increased 3.2 percent since February and is over 1 percent higher than the comparable period last year.

Based on index results, a pick-up in home sales is most prominent in the southern and western regions of the country.

Suggesting that lower home prices and government incentives could be driving the increase in pending sales, the chief economist of the realtor group said that the market will likely take a few months to "gain momentum."

"We need several months of sustained growth to demonstrate a recovery in housing, which is necessary for the overall economy to turn around," said chief economist Lawrence Yun.

The National Association of Realtors president Charles McMillan added, "For buyers who've been on the sidelines and have good jobs, the market has never looked more favorable."

The group points out that compared to one year ago, families can find much better value for their dollar in the market today. With a good credit score and sound documentation, homebuyers applying for a mortgage loan are likely to be able to afford a property this year that may have been out of reach when the market was hot.

In fact, first-time homebuyers have a potential tax credit as another incentive to buy a home before the end of the year.

Earlier this year, as part of the economic stimulus package, the federal government announced that qualifying first-time homebuyers purchasing a home before December 1, 2009 could receive up to $8,000 in tax credit.

More Housing Market Articles | News Home | Discuss in our Forum

With residential sales up, more families are moving into homes