March Pending Homes Data

The number of single family homes in Massachusetts that were placed under agreement* in March increased 27% year over year while condominiums placed under agreement increased 38% over March 2009. This follows a trend of increases for both single family homes and condominiums which has held true for 9 consecutive months. (Source: MAR 4/6/10)

While this is encouraging news for sellers, the tax credit ($8K for first-time home buyers and $6.5K for those buying and selling a primary residence) requires that a property be under agreement by the end of April. Therefore, I expect the trend of pending* home sales to continue for the month of April and to then dip - perhaps significantly - at least until the end of July. This would be an aberration from historic cyclical trends, as May and June are typically strong months for real estate activity.

Bottom line: if you have a residential property for sale, use your best efforts to place that property under agreement prior to May 1. The one caveat is that there is the possibility that the tax credit could be extended in some form, which would allow the current trend to continue into at least the summer vacation season (usually the second or third week in June through July). However, I have heard no substantive discussion to that effect.

* The terms "under agreement" and "pending" are synonymous and simply mean that there is a contract signed with respect to the sale of a property, but ownership of that property has not yet transferred.