|
Vero Beach Real Estate Listings
Pending home sales on a record
roll
FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS
- 09/01/2009
Contract activity for pending Vero Beach home sales has risen
for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of
the index since it began in 2001, according to the National
Association of Realtors® (NAR).
The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based
on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from
a reading of 94.6 in June. It’s also 12.0 percent higher than
July 2008 when it was at 87.1. The index is at its highest
level since June 2007. Homes for sale in Vero Beach
Florida are seeing similar activity.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the Vero Beach Fl.
housing market momentum has clearly turned for the better. “The
recovery is broad-based across many parts of the country.
Housing affordability has been at record highs this year with
the added stimulus of a first-time buyer tax credit.
“Other buyers are taking advantage of low home values before
prices turn higher,” Yun says. “Nationally, the typical
mortgage payment now takes less than 25 percent of a
middle-income family’s monthly income to buy a median priced
home, with payment percentages so far in 2009 being the lowest
on record dating back to 1970. As long as home buyers stay
within their budget, mortgage payments will be very
manageable.”
NAR estimates that about 1.8 to 2.0 million first-time buyers
will take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit this year, with
approximately 350,000 additional sales that would not have
taken place without the credit. Buyers have little time to act
because they must complete the transaction by Nov. 30 to
qualify for the credit. Unless extended, contracts signed but
not completed by that date will not be eligible - it is taking
approximately two months to complete home sales in the current
market.
The Pending Home Sales Index in the Northeast declined 3.0
percent to 78.8 in July but is 4.7 percent higher than July
2008. In the Midwest, the index slipped 2.0 percent to 88.1 but
is 8.1 percent above a year ago. In the South, pending home
sales activity rose 3.1 percent to an index of 103.8 in July
and is 12.0 percent above July 2008. In the West the index
jumped 12.1 percent to 112.5 and is 20.0 percent above a year
ago.
NAR President Charles McMillan says Congress needs to keep the
momentum going. “Even with a good recovery taking place, the
market is not yet back to normal. With a gradual absorption of
inventory, we are on the cusp of a general stabilization in
home prices,” he says. “To ensure that housing has a broad
stimulus to the overall economy and stays on sound footing,
we’re encouraging Congress to extend the tax credit into 2010,
and to expand it to all buyers of primary residences. The
faster we stabilize home prices, the fewer families will face
foreclosure and the quicker the credit can be extended to other
sectors of the economy.”
NAR’s Housing Affordability Index (HAI) stood at 158.5 in July
- below the peak set in April but still 36.0 percentage points
higher than a year ago. The HAI is a broad measure of housing
affordability using consistent values and assumptions over
time, which examines the relationship between home prices,
mortgage interest rates and family income.
Yun expects existing-home sales to rise through the fourth
quarter. “Unless the tax credit is extended, no one should be
surprised to see home sales drop in the first quarter of next
year,” he said. “However, the fundamentals of the housing
market and the economy are trending up, and we expect home
sales to generally pick up in the second quarter of 2010. The
buyer psychology may be shifting from, ‘Why buy now when I can
purchase later,’ to ‘I don’t want to miss out on a
recovery.’”
 Top of page
| 
