The pending home sales index rose 6% in April after an upwardly revised 7.1% increase in March, the National Association of Realtors reported. The benchmark covers signed contracts, not final sales, which usually lag by a month or two.
"Tax incentives have made the housing market look better than it really is," wrote Neil Dutta, an economist for Bank of America's Merrill Lynch.
The federal government has been subsidizing home sales with tax credits of up to $8,000 for qualified buyers who signed a sales contract by the end of April. Transactions must close by June 30 to qualify.
The real estate lobbying organization warned that some buyers would not be able to close by the end of June because of backlogs and has asked Congress for flexibility in the deadline.
The pending sales index is at the highest level since October, just before a previous tax credit expired. The index is up 22% compared with April 2009.
The tax credit brought more than 1 million buyers into the market, according to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR.
Other economists have said the tax credit likely accelerated purchases but probably didn't lure many additional buyers into the market.
"The housing market has to get back on its own feet and now appears to be in a good position to return to sustainable levels even without government stimulus, provided the economy continues to add jobs," Yun said.
1 comment:
Opportunities in real estate india
Post a Comment