Global| Sep 01 2009U.S. Pending Home Sales Remain Firm And Rise To The Highest Level In Two Years
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
There's been no letup in the recovery in housing demand. The National Association of Realtors reported that during July pending, improved home affordability boosted sales of existing homes by 3.2% from June to their highest level [...]
There's
been no letup in the recovery in housing demand. The National
Association of Realtors reported that during July pending, improved
home affordability boosted sales of existing homes by 3.2% from June to
their highest level since June of 2007. The gain followed a similar
rise in June sales and doubled Consensus expectations for a 1.6%
increase.
The gain in July home sales was led by a 12.1% m/m rise in
sales in the West.
That rise was a multiple of the increases
during the last several months and it lifted sales to the highest level
since September of last year. The latest also was near the highest
since early-2006. Sales in the South also rose a firm 3.1% to the
highest level since mid-2007. Sales in the Midwest went the other way
and fell 2.0%. They have been roughly flat since January. Finally,
sales in the Northeast dropped 3.0% from June and were roughly
unchanged since April.
These home sales figures are analogous to the new home sales data from the Commerce Department in that they measure existing home sales when the sales contract is signed, not at the time the sale is closed. The series dates back to 2001.
The
pending home sales data are available in Haver's PREALTOR database.
The number of homes on the market and prices are in the REALTOR
database.
| Pending Home Sales (2001=100) | July | June | Y/Y | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 97.6 | 94.6 | 12.1% | 86.8 | 95.8 | 112.1 |
| Northeast | 78.8 | 81.2 | 4.6 | 72.6 | 85.6 | 98.5 |
| Midwest | 88.1 | 89.9 | 8.1 | 80.6 | 89.5 | 102.0 |
| South | 103.8 | 100.7 | 12.1 | 89.8 | 107.3 | 127.3 |
| West | 112.5 | 100.4 | 19.9 | 99.3 | 92.1 | 109.5 |
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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