Positive Real Estate News for Buyers and Sellers in Mount Pleasant Charleston SC

Positive news for both Buyers and Sellers in Mount Pleasant  & Charleston, SC area.  For Buyers, the increase in pending sales means home prices have dropped to an acceptable level and motivated sellers are willing to take any reasonable offers.  For sellers, buyers are starting to make offers and homes are starting to sell.  This is the first signs the market is slowly starting to move some of the inventory that is currently on the market.

Ahead of the Bell: Pending Home Sales

Associated Press, 04.01.09, 06:15 AM EDT - An index that tracks signed contracts to purchase previously occupied homes likely rose in February after falling to a record low a month earlier.

The National Association of Realtors' report on pending sales is expected to edge up to 82, from January's low of 80.4, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. The report is scheduled to be released Wednesday at 10 a.m. EDT.

Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal, so the index is a barometer for future home sales.

The Realtors reported last week that existing home sales rose 5.1 percent in February, the largest increase in nearly six years. Economists say sales, while still at levels not seen since 1997, may finally be coming back to life since declining sharply following the stock market plunge last autumn.

Prices, however, are expected to keep falling for at least another year. Tens of thousands of homes are tied up in the foreclosure process and not yet for sale. Plus, as the recession deepens and job losses mount, many buyers are likely to stay on the sidelines.

The Realtors estimate that 45 percent of existing home sales are now foreclosures and other distressed properties.

To read the rest of the article, http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/04/01/ap6240021.html

For more information on Buying a Home in Hanahan & Mount Pleasant, SC and Surrounding Areas contact Matt Naumann, your local local buying expert on Foreclosures, REOs, and Bank Owned Properties.