Orange County Real Estate Report May 2010

The improved job outlook was accompanied by improvements in consumer attitudes.

A March 2010 Move.com survey found that one in five potential home buyers plan to buy a home in the near future, and 17% want to buy an investment home.
A Fannie Mae National Housing Survey conducted between December 2009 and January 2010 found that 65% of respondents believe it’s a good time to buy a house, and nearly 31% say it’s a very good time. 44% say they expect their personal financial situation to improve in the next year.
The National Association of REALTORS® Pending Sales Index was up 8.2% in February. Pending sales are calculated by the number of signed purchase contracts.
The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose four points in April, a significant improvement after six months of no movement.
Building permits were up 34.1% in March 2010 from a year ago — the biggest annual gain since February 1992.
Housing starts are up 1.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 626,000 units, and February housing starts were revised to show a 1.1% increase (previously reported as a 5.9% decline). This is the biggest improvement in 17 months.

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