Record of Pending Home Sales Signals Continued Growth of Austin Real Estate

RealtorMag.com posted an article that announced the National Association of Realtor’s (NAR’s) latest report on pending contracts for homes in May. Based on their assessment, pending contracts for real estate purchases is at the highest level since April 2006. The 9-year record indicates that housing markets have recovered from the housing bubble disaster in 2008.

According to the report, NAR's Pending Home Sales Index rose 0.9 percent in May to 112.6, which is nearly at the 113.7 level it reached in April 2006. Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said that "The steady pace of solid job creation seen now for over a year has given the housing market a boost this spring.” He also stated "It's very encouraging to now see a broad based recovery with all four major regions showing solid gains from a year ago and new home sales also coming alive."

Increasing demands for Austin area homes will push home prices higher in the future, making it important for would-be Austin area homeowners to act sooner rather than later on purchasing a home.

Here's a closer look at how the Pending Home Sales Index performed regionally in May:

• Northeast: rose 6.3 percent to 93.9 last month and is 10.6 percent above a year ago.

• Midwest: fell 0.6 percent to 111.4 but remains 7.8 percent above year ago levels.

• South: dropped 0.8 percent to 127.8 but are still 10.6 percent above last May.

• West: rose 2.2 percent to 104.5 in May and are 13 percent above a year ago.