HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Pending home sales reached their highest level in nearly five years, and the national housing market continues to run hot, providing strong momentum that should keep Realtors busy for the foreseeable future.
In Houston, 2,390 home sales closed during the week ending August 31, an 11.7 percent increase compared with the same week in 2019, the Houston Association of Realtors reported Wednesday.
Pending sales — the number of homes that went under contract to be sold — suggest that the market may remain strong through September and October. HAR reported 2,182 listings went under contract in the seven-day period ending Aug. 31, a 5.2 percent increase from the prior year.
Is Housing Bulletproof?
“It seems like nothing can stop the housing market from charging forward with rising prices and increasing sales right now,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “Uncertainty around the election, ongoing concerns about the pandemic, high unemployment with expanded benefits that have expired… none of that seems to matter to real estate. If there are dark clouds on the horizon right now for the housing market, you really have to squint hard to make them out.”
On a national level, pending home sales — a reliable indicator of near-term activity — were exceptionally strong.
Pending home sales for the four-week period ending Aug. 23 were substantially higher than the same period in 2019, up 20 percent despite a seasonal slowdown over recent weeks. This represented the largest year-over-year increase in pending sales since the four weeks ending October 25, 2015.
The Federal Reserve has signaled a strategy that will keep interest rates low for an extended period. That policy makes mortgage rates near 3 percent a likely long-run norm and continues to support housing demand.
The pace of sales has been brisk.
In July, a record-setting 11,000 homes were sold in Houston, a 23 percent increase over July 2019. That marked the first time monthly sales in the city exceeded 10,000, according to the Houston Association of Realtors.
“Many homebuyers are waiving home inspections, appraisals and everything they possibly can to try to win in a bidding war,” said Milwaukee-area Redfin agent Melissa Killham. “The busy season for real estate seems to be prolonged this year. Usually things have slowed down by now, but homes are still flying off the market, sometimes before you can even see the properties.”
Sept. 2, 2020 — Realty News Report. Copyright 2020.
File: Home Sales Speed Ahead
Photo credit: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report. Copyright 2020.
