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October Spike in Existing Home Sales

More good news hit the wires this morning!

CNBC is reporting that existing home sales reached a record high in October, topping off at 10.1 percent, which amounts to an annual rate of 6.10 million units. Up from a 5.54 million-unit pace in September of this year, the National Association of Realtors reported this surge to be the highest since February 2007.Industry experts are attributing this jump in sales to buyers taking advantage of historically low mortgage rates and the home buyer tax credits.

Analysts were expecting to see a more modest increase in October sales, with a 5.70 million-unit pace up from the formerly reported 5.57 million-unit pace in September. The October sales increased by 23.5 percent compared to October 2008.

In October, all four regions of the U.S. saw an increase in sales. Single-family home sales rose 9.7 percent to an annual rate of 5.33 million units. Condominiums and co-op sales increased 13.2 percent, totaling an annual rate of 770,000 units.

The existing homes for sale inventory fell to 3.57 million units in October, a 3.7 percent decrease from September 2009. The National Association of Realtors reported that the sales pace for October represents a significantly low supply of 7.0 months, compared to September’s supply of 8.0 months.

Click here to view the CNBC article.

October Housing Market Wrap Up for Arizona and Home Buyer Tax Credit Extension!!

More great news about the national real estate market was reported on Monday. September had an increase of 6.1% in Pending Home Sales. The rise to 110.1 million from 103.8 million marked the largest annual increase on record and the longest streak of gains since the measurement began in 2001.

The gains are attributed to home buyers rushing to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit which was set to expire at the end of this month. Fortunately, the President signed a bill today extending the tax credit seven more months! This extension includes a tax credit of $6,500 for home buyers who have lived in their home the previous 5 years. In addition, it increases the number of people eligible for this tax credit by adjusting the income cap to $125,000 for individual filers and $225,000 for joint filers. Click here to view the CNN article.

Here are the Arizona market results for October 2009 (Information was provided by our friends at CromfordReport.com):

• Sales per Month @ 8,032 were up 191 from September 2009 @ 7,841

• Days on Market @ 91 was down 2 days from September 2009 @ 93

• Days on Inventory @ 163 remained steady from September 2009 @ 162

• Active Listings @ 38,733 were up 1,315 from September 2009 @ 37,418

• Median Sales Price @ 128K remained somewhat steady from September 2009 @ 130K

• Lender Owned Percentage of Monthly Sales @ 46% was down from September 2009 @ 50.6%

September Arizona Market Wrap Up & Tax Credit Expiration Nov 30th

As we closed out the last month of the third quarter, activity in the Phoenix Real Estate Market was strong.

October, thus far, has been a big month for Lendability.com on Purchase Loans because there is still uncertainty surrounding the expiration of the tax credit.  As of today, it will expire on November 30th.  That means we need to get Purchase Contracts in and Loans in Process as soon as possible.

Most of us are anxiously awaiting the decision on the expansion and extension of the first-time home buyer tax credit. While debatable on a national scale, here at Lendability.com most, if not all, of our Realtor Affiliates have benefited from this tax credit.  Over 80% of our Arizona Purchase Loans are first time home buyers.

The expansion and extension will definitely impact our market place.  Stay tuned for updates.

Here are Results for September 2009 (Information was provided by our friends at CromfordReport.com):

• Active Listing @ 37,793 remained STEADY from August 2009 @ 37,523 - It’s important to note that  Active listings in August 2008 were @ 53,908
• Pending Listings @ 13,709 were up 437 from August 2009 @ 12,639
• Sales Per Month @ 7,593 were down 937 from August 2009 @ 8,530 - note that Sales Per Month in August 2008 were @ 5,505
• Sales per Year @ 84,210 are up 30,719 from 2008 @ 53,491
• Days on Market @ 94 is down 7 days from August 2009 @ 101
• Days on Inventory @ 164 is down 3 days from August 2009 @ 167