The numbers looked much better in May for
home sales with the release of that month's statistics for the Pending Home
Sales Index. It showed that the Northeast and West had the best improvements,
but general numbers were up from April by 6.1 percent. In fact, the Northeast
was the only area that showed improvements over 2013.
While this is good news for everyone, there
is still room for caution. The numbers for May 2014 were still below what they
were in May 2013. Many economists expect the home sales to continue to improve
for the second half of the year, but may not be enough to make up for the first
half of the year. It is expected that the totals for 2014 will still fall below
those for the previous year.
First-time homebuyers were only about 27%
of the numbers of pending home sales. The reason behind these low numbers is
affordability coupled with lower credit scores and income. If you divide up the
numbers between homes that were above $250,000 and those below, sales for homes
that fell under $250,000 were down from 2013 by about 10 percent.
There
is good news for those who want to buy their first home though. Rent prices are
expected to increase due to low availability. In addition, income is expected
to rise and a slightly easier approval process should make it better for those
applying for their first home loan.
Analysts do expect home prices to continue
to rise even while existing home sales are expected to be below 5 million.
These numbers should not deter first-time
homebuyers from jumping into the home buying process. Instead, it should
inspire them to learn all they can about buying a home and what it involves and
make sure they meet all of the requirements. It is also important to know how
much home buyers can afford and not overextend themselves.
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