Pending Home Sales Up Again in January
The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) recently announced that pending home sales (contracts that are signed but not yet completed or closed) were up again in January.
This represents the 21st consecutive month for pending sales to rise above year-ago levels.
“Favorable affordability conditions and job growth have unleashed a pent-up demand,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.
“Most areas are drawing down housing inventory, which has shifted the supply/demand balance to sellers in much of the country. It’s also why we’re experiencing the strongest price growth in more than seven years.”
Yun says he expects total housing sales to be higher in 2013 than 2012, but he doesn’t expect the increase to be as dramatic. However, he expects price increases this year to beat 2012.
Statewide Townhome-Condo Median Up 18 Percent
Dr. John Tuccillo
The Florida housing market is reporting increased sales, higher median prices, more pending sales and less inventory levels in January, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®.
Statewide the number of closed single-family homes sales totaled 13,679 in January, up 11.7 percent compared to a year-ago. The statewide median for townhouse-condo properties was $112,000, up 18 percent over the previous year.
Inventory for single-family homes was at a 5.6 months’ supply and inventory for townhouse-condos was at a 6.2-months’ supply in January according to Florida Realtors®.
“I’m particularly impressed with the rise in percentage of list price received by sellers,” said Florida Realtors Chief Economist Dr. John Tuccillo, referring to the January data.
Sellers of single-family existing homes in January received an average of 92.2 percent of their original list price; sellers of townhome-condo units received an average of 93 percent.