The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, increased 6.7 percent to 112.3 in May from a downwardly revised 105.2 in April, and is 12.1 percent above May 2012 when it was 100.2; the data reflect contracts but not closings.
Contract activity is at the strongest pace since December 2006 when it reached 112.8; pending sales have been above year-ago levels for the past 25 months.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said there might be a fence-jumping effect.
“Even with limited choices, it appears some of the rise in contract signings could be from buyers wanting to take advantage of current affordability conditions before mortgage interest rates move higher,” Yun says. “This implies a continuation of double-digit price increases from a year earlier, with a strong push from pent-up demand.”
Yun upgraded NAR’s price forecast for 2013, with the national median existing-home price expected to rise more than 10 percent to nearly $195,000. This would be the strongest increase since 2005 when the median increased 12.4 percent.
Existing-home sales are projected to increase 8.5 to 9 percent, reaching about 5.07 million in 2013. That would make existing-home sales the highest in seven years and slightly above the 5.03 million total recorded in 2007.
The pending sales index in the Northeast was unchanged at 92.3 in May, but it’s still 14.3 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest, the index jumped 10.2 percent to 115.5 in May and it’s 22.2 percent higher than May 2012.
Pending home sales in the South rose 2.8 percent to an index of 121.8 in May and 12.3 percent above a year ago. The index in the West jumped 16.0 percent in May to 109.7, but with limited inventory, it’s only 1.1 percent above May 2012.
© 2013 Florida Realtors®
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