Pending home sales increased again in March, affirming that a surge of home sales is unfolding for the spring home buying season, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. This forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in March, rose 5.3 percent to 102.9 from 97.7 in February, and is 21.1 percent above March 2009 when it was 85.0; this follows an 8.3 percent increase in February.

The data reflects contracts and not closings, which usually occur with a lag time of one or two months. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said favorable affordability conditions have been working with the tax credit. “Later in the second half of the year, and into 2011, home sales will likely become self-sustaining if the economy can add jobs at a respectable pace, and from a return of buyer demand as they see home values stabilizing. Another encouraging sign is the improvement in the availability for jumbo and second-home mortgages,” Yun said. The National Association of Realtors®, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing 1.1 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.

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NorthWest Real Estate

Below is a report that indicates that the mortgage rates are starting to move up. It is predicted that by the end of the year the rates will be close to 6%.

Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) at 5.01% with a 0.7 origination point for the week ending February 4, up from last week’s average rate of 4.98%. It’s the first week-over-week increase in 2010. A year ago, the 30-year FRM was 5.25%. Bankrate.com’s weekly survey of large banks and thrifts put the 30-year FRM at 5.15%, up from 5.13% last week. Freddie put the 15-year FRM at 4.4%, up from last week’s average rate of 4.39%, but still down from last year’s rate of 4.92%. Bankrate.com put the 15-year FRM at 4.55%, up from 4.54% last week. Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist Frank Nothaft said despite the increase, rates remain relatively stable amid other positive developments, including recent increases in pending home sales and mortgage applications. “Even more encouraging news came from the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, which reported that banks have generally stopped tightening standards on most types of loans in the fourth quarter of 2009, with commercial real estate as the exception,” Nothaft said. “However, banks have yet to unwind the tightening that occurred over the last two years. Moreover, substantially fewer banks expected credit quality to deteriorate over the coming year,” he added. Freddie said the five-year Treasury-indexed hybrid adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) averaged 4.27%, up from last week’s rate of 4.25%. Last year, the five-year ARM averaged 5.26%. Bankrate.com’s average rate for five-year ARMs was 4.56%, up from 4.54% last week. Freddie’s survey of the one-year Treasury-indexed ARM put the average rate of 4.22%, down from last week’s rate of 4.29% and last year’s 4.92%.

Now is the time to buy a home! The mortgage rates are still at an all time low and the home prices are at there best. You still have time to take advantage of the $8000 and $6500 tax credit available to home buyers. If you are looking to buy a home in the Bonney Lake, Lake Tapps, Sumner, Puyallup, Buckley, Enumclaw or any of the surrounding Puget Sound areas, call me at 253-209-9701 and chances are I will be able to help you.

Do it now before this once in a lifetime perfect storm passes by!

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Housing sales up

In the December 2 edition of the Summary of Commentary on Current Economic Conditions, commonly called the Beige Book, eight Federal Reserve Districts reported an economic uptick. In fact, all but two Fed districts reported increased activity or improved conditions, with Philadelphia and Richmond seeing mixed results. At the end of the year, home sales increased in every district but San Francisco, where activity was steady and Kansas City, which experienced a decline. Lower-priced homes typically purchased by first-time home buyers outpaced sales of higher-priced homes.

The districts project the extension and expansion of the home buyer tax credit could give an added impetus to the expected seasonal sales upturn this spring. Despite the improved activity, prices have remained at their low levels. Boston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland experienced price declines, Richmond remained steady, while Dallas reporting some “firming” in prices. New residential construction activity is at low levels in most districts, but Chicago and Minneapolis are exceptions to this trend. Rising vacancy rates and falling rents both impact the weakness in commercial real estate. Landlords are focusing on tenant retention, negotiating lease extensions at low rents and with favorable allowances. Loan demand continues to decline or remain weak and credit quality continues to deteriorate, most districts said. The exception to this is residential mortgages, which is experiencing a steady demand.

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Commercial real-estate insiders say 2010 could be as bad, if not worse, than 2009 for their industry.

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Gig Harbor, WA (December 21, 2009) – ePropertyData, the leader in Commercial Information Exchange (CIE) technology, brought together a group of commercial real estate experts for the 2 nd Annual Commercial Information Exchange Innovation Summit held in Las Vegas in early December.

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Wende Sauvage of Seattle joined lighting controls manufacturer Encelium Technologies, Teaneck, as corporate real estate sales director. She was a commercial real estate broker for Cushman & Wakefield for nine years.

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Recent commercial real estate transactions as reported by area brokerage firms.Chad Peterson, financial consultant, has leased 1,256 square feet of office space from Old Town Storage LLC…

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SAN FRANCISCO-Jeff Congdon has joined GVA Kidder Mathews as an executive vice president focused on institutional real estate investments. The 37-year veteran of the local commercial real estate industry will be based in downtown San Francisco office.

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The world’s largest commercial real estate services company has issued its take on Sacramento in 2010. Hint: It looks like a rerun of this year.

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Gig Harbor, WA (December 9, 2009) – Poe & Cronk, a full service Virginia commercial real estate company, has selected ePropertyData to serve as its commercial information exchange (CIE) solutions provider.

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