The real estate industry has expressed concerns regarding the potential repercussions of the FARE Act.
NAR continues to believe that offers of compensation are an important option to help make professional representation more accessible.
Starting out in her 20s, Rondon worked with real estate legend Faith Hope Consolo while at Garrick Aug Associates, where she spent 13 years.
WASHINGTON—Pending home sales increased in November, rebounding from the prior month’s decline, according to the National Association of Realtors. The West region reported the highest growth in November, while the other three major U.S. regions saw only marginal variances in month-over-month contract activity. Pending home sales were up nationally and up in all regions compared to one year ago.
Pending home sales in the Northeast during the month of November were flat, according to the NAR report.
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) rose 1.2% to 108.5 in November. Year-over-year contract signings jumped 7.4%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors.
Photo Credit NAR
“Despite the insufficient level of inventory, pending home contracts still increased in November,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, noting that housing inventory has been in decline for six straight months dating back to June 2019. “The favorable conditions are expected throughout 2020 as well, but supply is not yet meeting the healthy demand.”
At the recent NAR Real Estate Forecast Summit, the consensus forecast called for 2.0% GDP growth, a 3.7% unemployment rate and a 3.8% average mortgage rate in 2020. Home prices were projected to rise by 3.6% in 2020 after a 5% gain in 2019.
“Sale prices continue to rise, but I am hopeful that we will see price appreciation slow in 2020,” said Yun. “Builder confidence levels are high, so we just need housing supply to match and more home construction to take place in the coming year.”
The regional indices had mixed results in November. The Northeast PHSI slid 0.1% to 96.3 in November, but was 2.6% higher than a year ago. In the Midwest, the index rose 1.0% to 102.5 last month, 5.0% higher than in November 2018.
Pending home sales in the South decreased 0.2% to an index of 125.0 in November, a 7.7% increase from last November. The index in the West grew 5.5% in November 2019 to 98.4, an increase of 14.0% from a year ago.
The real estate industry has expressed concerns regarding the potential repercussions of the FARE Act.
NAR continues to believe that offers of compensation are an important option to help make professional representation more accessible.
Starting out in her 20s, Rondon worked with real estate legend Faith Hope Consolo while at Garrick Aug Associates, where she spent 13 years.
“The worst of the downturn in home sales could be over, with increasing inventory leading to more transactions,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
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