August Existing Home Sales Increase Unexpectedly

According to a report by the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales increased 7.4% from July 2008's numbers. This is great news because most analysts have said that homes sales would decrease at an average of 1.5% in August. While the numbers are still well below the highs of 2005, they are a reflection that the market is trying to find a bottom. If investors and buyers feel that the bottom is here or very near then we should expect to continue to see increases in home sales.

Even troubled areas such as Arizona, Nevada and California saw increases as well. It is important to note that the numbers reflect written contracts and not actual home sales. Hoepfully these buyers were not affected by FHA removing their down payment assistance programs or any of the other financial reactions that could jeopardize mortgage lenders loan approvals. The groups chief economist predicted that some of the sales would fall through because of the markets. Only time will tell how much of an impact this had on this significant movement he was quoted as saying. I do not have the figures for you Utah but would like to think that Utah experienced the same trend. Augusts REPC's most likely won't reflect actual home sales until mid Sept through Oct. This is decent news and definitely worth sharing.