Pending Home Sales Index: Not Bad. . .

November 7, 2008 1:58pm by Barry Ritholtz

Here’s something that almost never happens: An NAR release came out, and I think its better than the NAR does!

The Pending Home Sales Index — based on contracts signed in September — declined 4.6% to 89.2 from the upwardly revised 93.5 in August. That is pretty awful, but is 1.6% higher than September 2007 (87.8). And as we have so painstakingly detailed, its the year over year data that is significant.

Year over year, the number has improved. As the table below shows, its doing so for one reason: Huge price decreases in the West have led to giant increases in sales.

We noted Monday, sales in California have gone up as prices have fallen.

Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)

Previously:
Propping Up Home Prices, Stopping Foreclosures (November 2008)
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/11/propping-up-home-prices-stopping-foreclosures/

Source:
Pending Home Sales Down on Tight Credit and Economic Slowdown
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS, November 07, 2008
http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2008/phs_down_on_tight_credit

Table (PDF)

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