Gainesville FL Real Estate Blog

Contract activity for pending home sales fell after a surge of activity in preceding months to beat the original deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit but remains comfortably above a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in November, fell 16.0 percent to 96.0 from an upwardly revised 114.3 in October, but is 15.5 percent higher than November 2008 when it was 83.1.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a drop was expected. “It will be at least early spring before we see notable gains in sales activity as home buyers respond to the recently extended and expanded tax credit,” he said. “The fact that pending home sales are comfortably above year-ago levels shows the market has gained sufficient momentum on its own. We expect another surge in the spring as more home buyers take advantage of affordable housing conditions before the tax credit expires.” 

Let’s look at December Gainesville FL real estate sales statistics to see how the housing recovery is progressinglocally. 

The Gainesville FL area single family home sales saw a 20% increase in sold listings in December 2009, when compared against December 2008.  New listings saw an increase of 9%.  Pending sales saw a 8% increase and the average sales price decreased by 1% to $197,731, while market times decreased by 4 days.  

 The Gainesville FL area Condo/Townhome market saw the average sales price decrease by 19% to $121,802 in December 2009 compared to December 2008.  While new listings were down 5% and sold listings decreased by 5% in December 2009.  Pending sales decreased by 18% when compared to December 2008, while the average market times decreased by 18 days. 

For the latest Gainesville FL real estate market conditions in your area, please call me at 888-424-8841 or visit MyGatorCondo.com.