Pending Home Sales Climb 10.9%

Pending Home Sales climbed 10.9% from this time last year according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).  Pending Home Sales are homes that have active sales contracts but have not yet closed.

On a month-over-month basis, sales pulled back -0.4 percent.  This is actually positive news as the market was expected a drop of over 1.00% due to higher mortgage rates during this term.  The fact that the housing market is able to absorb the slight uptick in mortgage rates is good news.

Based on year-to-date sales activity, and stable contract signings expected for the balance of the year, NAR projects existing-home sales to rise more than 8 percent in 2013.  Inventory shortages will lead the median price to rise by nearly 11 percent this year.