2012 Housing Industry Confidence on the Rise Five-Year High for Pending Home Sales Long Beach Home Sales Outlook Brightened by National Report
With more than one million members, the
National Association of Realtors® is the nation’s largest trade
association. It’s no wonder that what it says carries a lot of weight. When a gargantuan
outfit like this makes a prediction, its words may not always make headlines,
but they do influence everyone whose job it is to forecast the future of the
nation’s economic activity.
That’s
why their most recent report dealing with 2012 Housing Industry and Five-Year Pending Home Sales prediction put smiles on
many of those one million members’ faces.
“The spring home buying season looks
bright,” according to Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “If activity is sustained
near present levels, existing-home sales will see their best performance in
five years.”
Like all statistics, those he was
describing can be looked at in more than one way. We know that some numbers are
more reliable than others. This particular index is based on an unusually large
sample: about 20% of all transactions for existing home sales. It’s a forward-looking
indicator: in the past, it has signaled coming trends before they materialize.
This index seldom produces a straight line of activity because of seasonal and
monthly ups and downs, but this time a trend is evident that is “notably above
the pattern from a year ago.”
Our Long Beach home sales patterns are not
invariably tied to national trends -- but they aren’t impervious to them,
either. So we are pleased when our own
impression that the spring market is looking up is borne out by the experts who
deal in the broader picture. “Based on all of the factors in the current
market,” Yun went on, he expects to see “sales rising 7 to 10 percent in
2012.”
Real estate is a famously local
phenomenon, and although we keep an eye on the national and state markets, our
real attention is always centered right here in Long Beach. If you havequestions about your own real estate outlook, call me anytime for a
consultation focused on your neighborhood.
562-882-1581
