Pending Home Sales Fell In April
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The number of people signing deals to buy homes dropped across the state last month — just the latest in a long list of indicators showing a housing market relapse.
The California Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index shows that the number of new deals going into escrow decreased 11% from March and was down 19.2% from April of last year.
After a furious rebound last year – juiced by state and federal tax incentives – market strength sagged this year just as the spring homebuying season began. Other recent indicators of market weakness include …
- Aliso Viejo broker Steve Thomas reported that pending deals in Orange County in April were down 5% from March and were down 15.6% from a year ago.
- The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that completed existing-home sales dropped 0.8% last month from March levels and were 12.9% below the April 2010 sales pace.
- DataQuick Information Systems reported last week that Orange County closed home sales fell 5% from March and were down 6.9% from year-ago levels. In Southern California as a whole, home sales fell to a three-year low for an April. The region’s sales fell 5.5% from March and were down 9.2% from a year ago.
- The U.S. Commerce Department reported Tuesday that housing starts dropped 10.6% from March’s starts. Compared to April last year, residential construction was down 23.9 percent, the largest decline since October 2009.
- posted by C.A.R. Lansner on Real Estate
