Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Pending Home Sales Report for May showing a 6.7% year-over-year increase in pending home sales nationally but a surprisingly weak 0.7% year-over-year decline in pending sales seen in the heavily foreclosure laden markets of the west region.Meanwhile, the NARs chief economist Lawrence Yun continues to setup the context by which the NAR (or specifically RPAC, their political action committee…) lobbies congress more lenient (and likely fraudulent) rules governing the home appraisal process.
“Rises in contract activity show buyers are becoming more active even as they face much more stringent loan underwriting standards. Speedy clarification of the appraisal rules could smooth a housing market recovery and support the overall economy.”
The following chart shows the national pending home sales index along with the percent change on a year-over-year basis as well as the percent change from the peak set in 2005 (click for larger version).
Look at the May seasonally adjusted pending home sales results and draw your own conclusion:- Nationally the index increased 6.7% as compared to May 2008.
- The Northeast region increased 6.8% as compared to May 2008.
- The Midwest region increased 11.4% as compared to May 2008.
- The South region increased 7.9% as compared to May 2008.
- The West region increased 0.8% as compared to May 2008.
