The National Association of Realtors reports that contract signings for home purchases rebounded in December after a sharp decline in November.  The 6.3 percent increase is higher by 2 percent than a year ago and homes going under contract is a leading indicator for the next month or two of homes sales,  January still is hard to predict as the rate of homes going under contract in November were weak.

Improving areas, in terms of homes closed and pending sales, are markets in California and Florida.  This does not necessarily mean an increase in sales price, San Diego is seeing an increase of pending sales by almost double as compared to the year before.  In the Northeast, Providence has been gaining in closed sales and pending sales in the past several months.

The National Association of Realtors chief economist, Lawrence Yun, forecasts “soft existing home sales in the first quarter of 2009 before steadily trending up later in the year. By the fourth quarter, existing home sales could be easily 10 percent higher than a comparable period the year before.”  Many new home builders are still experiencing extreme financial pain in the current climate, but the housing market is said to be moving in the right direction as a result of less new home construction.

According to the chief economist, the economy cannot recover without the recovery of the housing market .

We are watching the stimulus package carefully as there has been much discussion of a strong housing market recovery package to be included in the bill – the $15,000 tax credit would certainly have an enormous impact on the housing market as buyers will get back into the market to take advantage of the current market prices, low interest rates and the tax deduction.

The Burns Real Estate Group is watching the current economic indicators carefully and in our next BurnsBuzz commentary we will review the  housing statistics for the Greater Hartford and Uconn Area for 2008.  Regional market condition information is critical to help both buyers and sellers make wise decisions in this market and we will share the most up to date housing market information available.