Market Watch

Excitement is brewing in our office, and change is abuzz in the real estate market and for the first time in a long time, we're truly invigorated!
This week was another week of milestones. Several weeks ago we wondered if all of these positive indicators were the start of a trend or if they would have a short shelf life. But after at least four weeks of some strong, positive gains things look really positive.
This week, NAR released its Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, reporting that pending home sales rose 2.1 percent to 82.1 from a reading of 80.4 in January. Pending home sales have a way to go for there to be a meaningful increase, but recent increases in shopping activity are hopeful indicators.
NAR’s Housing Affordability Index also rose a little in February, and is 36.3 percentage points higher than a year ago. This measure of housing affordability shows that the relationship between home prices, mortgage interest rates and family income is the most favorable since tracking began in 1970!
With last week’s jump in mortgage applications, the historic drop in interest rates and the surge in new housing starts, we truly are seeing some very positive and indicative signs of recovery.
Now we’ll have to keep our eye on it and watch as the market continues to progress through our traditionally busy Spring selling season, but so far the signs are positive.