According to the National Association of Realtors, the rise of pending home sales this past February is an indication of the second surge of home sales in relation to the home buyer tax credit.
The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) showed a rise of 8.2% making it 97.6 compared to 90.2 in January which remains 17.3% higher than February 2009's number of 83.2.
In addition, the PHSI for the Northeast increased by 9.0% to 77.7 in February and increased by 18.9 % in comparison to February 2009. In the Midwest there was an increase of 21.8% to 97.9 which is 18.8% higher than last year. As for our neck of the woods, the South had an increase of 9.2% which produced a number of 107.0 and is 17.5% higher than February 2009's index. Lastly, there was a decrease of 4.8% in the west producing an index 98.0 which is still 14.6% higher than last year.
Economists believe March data can produce even larger improvements!