Lower prices and better interest rates are beginning to appeal to home buyers nationwide.
On Oct. 8, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales contracts in August increased by 7.4% from July, to 93.4%. The surge in sales nationwide is even greater than last August (2007), when it was at 85.8%. This marks the highest Pending Home Sales Index since June 2007.
(The index represents approximately 20% of signed contracts on homes that haven’t yet closed. When the index measures 100, it equals the average activity throughout 2001, which was when the index began.)
In the Western United States, the home sales index jumped 18.4% in August, and it is 37.8% higher than it was a year ago.
The West saw the largest growth in the Pending Home Sales Index, compared to an 8.4% increase in the Northeast, 3.6% in the Midwest and 2.3 % increase in the South.
This indicates that investing in the Western portion of the United States is a smart move, and since Summit County has not seen a decrease in sales price (but rather an increase), it’s wise to look into real estate in the area.
Forecasters predict that sales will grow by 2-3% in 2009, following the national slump in 2008 or 5-8%. They also predict a 30-year mortgage will have about a 6.1% interest rate at the end of the year and increase slowly to 6.6%.
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