Tag Archives: NAR

The Pending Home Sales Index rose 3.1 percent to 106.9 in February from a slight downward revision of 103.7 in January and is 12 percent about the February 2014 number of 95.4. The index is at its highest level since June 2013 and has increased year-over-year for six consecutive months and is above 100, considered an average level of activity, for the tenth consecutive month.

Sales are 4.7 percent higher than a year ago and above year-over-year totals for the fifth consecutive month. The median existing home price for all housing types in February was $202, 600. That is 7.5 percent above the February 2014 price. This marks the 36th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains since last year.

The median age of millennial homebuyers was 29, their median income was $76,900 and they typically bought a 1,720-square foot home costing $189,900. The typical Gen X buyer was 41 years old, had a median income of $104,600 and purchased a 1,890-square foot home costing $250,000. When asked about the primary reason for purchasing a home, a desire to own a home of their own was highest among Millennials at 39 percent. Younger boomers were the most likely to buy because of a job-related relocation or move, and a change in a family situation, most likely the birth of a child, was the highest among Gen X buyers.

There’s good news and bad news for January’s existing-home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors. On the one hand, sales in January, for the fourth straight month, were ahead of the pace of sales a year ago. On the other hand, existing-home sales in all major regions declined last month to their lowest rate in nine months, with the West and Northeast getting the worst of it.