Pending sales of homes and condominiums rose in December, year over year, as much as 26 percent, providing a possible harbinger of the market's direction, a state real estate association said yesterday.
Pending condo sales rose 26 percent and pending single-family home sales rose 5 percent last month in comparison to December of 2008. The figures mark the sixth straight month of year-over-year increases, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors in Waltham said.
While the association and research firm The Warren Group issue monthly reports on completed sales and prices, the association alone follows sales agreements, the majority of which come to fruition and are closed within 45 to 60 days.
"I think it's probably the most timely measurement we're going to get," said Gary Rogers, a broker with Re/Max First Realty in Waltham and a past association president. "It's putting a finger on the pulse of the market."
While pending sales actually fell between November and December, Rogers' association says the seasonally dependent real estate market is better measured by comparing the same months year-to-year, with several disruptive holidays falling on or around the latest study period.
The National Association of Realtors reported yesterday that pending American home sales rose between November 2008 and November 2009 but fell between October and November, at a rate that surprised and dismayed some outside market watchers.
National association chief economist Lawrence Yun said buyers are taking their time now that a federal tax credit program has been extended.
In Massachusetts, pending single-family home sales fell 19 percent between November and December, while pending condo sales fell 9.4 percent.
But referring to the year-over-year increases, Chuck Joseph of Re/Max Executive Realty in Hopkinton said, "We're very encouraged. It is getting to some semblance of normalcy."
With confidence a key to the market, Joseph said buyers are still a little jittery but less so than earlier in the financial crisis.
"There's a lot less panic, there's less concern," he said.
In Milford, Assistant Manager Angela Brucato of Afonso Real Estate said many of her office's sales continue to come through foreclosures or short sales, where owners and banks agree to sell for less than the remaining mortgage. Afonso even employs a broker who now specializes in foreclosures.
Still, Brucato said, she expects regular sales to return next year as the inventory of available foreclosures and short sales wanes and no additional distressed units are added.
