TheMoveChannel.com | International Property

Browse By Subject

Money

Property

Social

Professional

USA 'pending' home sales fall away

06/06/2006

Sales of homes in the USA fell by 3.7% in the pending home sales index during April, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The index is based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed and the transaction has not closed, but the sale usually is finalised within one or two months of signing.

Based on contracts signed in April, sales fell 3.7% to a level of 111.8 from an index of 116.1 in March, and is 11.7% below April 2005. This marks the third consecutive monthly decline.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, the first year to be examined, and was the first of five consecutive record years for existing-home sales.

David Lereah, NAR's chief economist, said various housing and economic indicators have been moving in different directions.

"When some measures are up and others are down, it tells us that we're in a period of transition. Pending homes sales probably give us the best measure for the overall direction of the housing market, which is falling from historical highs," he said. "I see this time of adjustment as being a trough in home sales that will more or less level out toward the end of the year. Over time, homeownership remains the best investment a family can make."

Regionally, the PHSI in the South rose 1.4% in April to 129.4 but was 5.7% below April 2005. In the Northeast, the index fell 5.5% in April to 106.7 and was 9.3% below a year ago. The index in the Midwest declined 5.6% to 100.3 in April and was 16.6% lower than April 2005. The index in the West dropped 9.8% to 100.2 in April and was 19.0% below a year ago.

The National Association of Realtors is America's largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.