Total cumulative pending home sales – including single-family homes and condominiums – in Broward County increased 7.7 percent in February compared to a year earlier, from 7,791 to 8,391, and 2.6 percent, and 8 percent month-over-month according to the MIAMI Association of Realtors and the Southeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (SEFMLS).
Fort Lauderdale, Florida (Broward County) - Image by Walter Bibikow/JAI/Corbis
“Rising pending home sales in Broward County are a positive indication of future market activity,” says Terri Bersach, president of the Broward County Board of Governors of the MIAMI Association of Realtors. “Pending sales are rising month-over-month and year-over-year for both single-family homes and condominiums, reflecting demand for local properties even beyond periods when we were already seeing healthy sales levels.”
Pending condominium sales in Broward again performed better than that of single-family homes in February. Pending condominium sales in Broward were 12.3 percent higher than they were in February 2010, up from 4,343 to 4,878, and were 9.1 percent above what they were the previous month.
Compared to February 2010, Broward pending sales of single-family homes increased two percent, from 3,448 to 3,513, and 6.5 percent, up from 3,298, compared to the previous month.
“Changes in the market are resulting in banks being more receptive to offers for distressed properties,” says Natascha Tello, president-elect of the Broward County Board of Governors of the MIAMI Association of Realtors. “This is helping to boost sales in Broward County and allowing inventory of distressed properties to continue to be absorbed.”
Nationally, pending home sales decreased in January for the second straight month, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home Sales Index, a national forward-looking indicator, declined 2.8 percent to 88.9 based on contracts signed in January from a downwardly revised 91.5 in December. The index is 1.5 percent below the 90.3 level in January 2010.
A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing. Increased pending sales are an indication of increased future sales.