On June 2nd, the National Association of Realtors released its April Pending Home Sales Index.  The numbers showed buyer confidence coming back into the market as many expected the extension of the tax credit to have a limited impact.

The South is the only region significantly outperforming the October data although the rest of the nation (excluding the West) is near  par.  Although this data is adjusted seasonally, to me it reveals confidence is coming back into the market.  Many people most certainly bought when they thought it was originally going to expire leading me to believe “pent-up demand” is adding to the numbers over the last 60 days.

Look for the Pending Home Sales Index to drop sharply for May’s numbers but by the time June and July are released, we should get a good idea of the direction the market is heading.  I suspect, based on heavy recent interest, investor-buyers are going to step in.

- Ryan Hinricher, Housing Analyst