My Real Estate Blog

On pending homes sales, no question there's softness in the wake of the tax credit phaseout, but a national drop of just 2.6 percent in the National Association of Realtors' index wasn't all that dramatic.

Buried away in the pending sales statistics were some counter-trends that got virtually no press attention whatsoever.  Several major markets are seeing significant increases in pending sales. South Florida, which was ground zero for the housing bust, pending sales of houses and condos  rose by nearly 41% year-over-year in the latest survey.  

Pending sales also were up in the metropolitan Washington DC area along with much of Texas. The entire southern region of the U.S. racked up a 3.7% increase in pending sales -- a fact that somehow got lost in all the negative coverage.

Another sign that even in the midst of tough economic times, people are looking to buy homes: The Mortgage Bankers Association reports that applications for new loans to purchase houses rose for the third straight week, this time by 2%. FHA home purchase applications were up by 3%.

Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke made some interesting comments last week that shed light on what's developing in the marketplace overall:
1) Private employment is slowly but surely improving. During the first six months of 2010, private payrolls expanded by an average 100,000 jobs per month. 
2) Consumer spending, which has been cautious since the recession ended, is looking up, "growth in real consumer spending seems likely to pick up during upcoming quarters, supported by gains in household income and improving credit conditions."