Pending Home Sales Climb Unexpectedly

The National Association of Realtors' index of pending home sales climbed an unexpected 0.6%, the second month in a row the number has increased, it said Monday. The latest figure, which measures contracts signed in October, confounded economists' forecasts of a 1% drop. September's reading was revised up to a 1.4% increase as well. "We're not likely to see any further collapse at this point," said Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp, who had forecast a gain. "I'm not optimistic about the outlook for the housing market, but we're scraping bottom in the fourth quarter." On a year-to-year basis, the NAR index dropped 18.4%. Two out of four the regions, the Northeast and the West, showed an increase since last month. The NAR held its forecast for the number of homes sold in the U.S. steady at 5.67 million for 2007, but inched up its 2008 forecast to 5.7 million from 5.69 million.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the worst part of the credit crunch may be over. "The unusual mortgage disruptions that peaked in August were clearly seen in lower home sales that were finalized in September and October, so the market was underperforming," Yun said. "Now that mortgage conditions have improved, some postponed activity should turn up in existing-home sales over the next couple of months, and I expect sales at fairly stable to slightly higher levels."

Sources: Press release, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Associated Press

Seeking Alpha's news briefs are combined into a pre-market summary called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.

Comments

[NARSpin:]

LOL - More NAR Spin. What I'm amazed at is that so called "experts" on seekingalpha would give this rubbish any credibility. Will make sure to add this author to my "idiot" list.

2007 Dec 10 07:30 PM

[Cody:]

Unfortunately the numbers that you are referring to are rubbish... Just like Peter Lynch did with equities you need to get out on the street and meet with management. Juxtapose that with current events in the housing markets and shazam you have your own neighbors to turn to. They are the owners and management all in one! They can't sell their homes, they can't cover the mortgage by renting, it's a dead end industry for the next few years as the smart money waits for the falling knife to finally hit the floor. I'd imagine that Mr. Dekaser has a vested interested in putting a positive spin on the housing market, just like the Harvard Economic Society did in 1929 after the stock market crashed. HOW WRONG THEY WERE! Mr. Mehta I suggest you get off your computer and take a trip to Florida, Arizona, or come visit me in the Central Valley in sunny California, as your statistics are shady at best. Cheers

2007 Dec 11 12:47 AM

[die:]

This index is at best describing the # of contracts signed, not the # of contracts that are finally fullfilled.

2007 Dec 11 03:03 PM

[SA Editor R...:]

Hey Guys,

I appreciate you visiting SA and leaving comments, even some that don't cast me in the best light, because I enjoy hearing other peoples' opinions. Please understand though, that we, as 'news brief' editors, for the most part try to present 'the story' such as it is, without offering our own opinion. If my bias appears in there, it was unintentional. In this story, I presented the economic figures and quoted analyst opinions about those figures. If that qualifies me for a spot on certain people's "idiot" lists, so be it.

Roy

2007 Dec 11 05:21 PM