Real Estate Outlook: A Bright Market - Housing numbers are headed in just one direction, and at least for the time being, that's better and better. Pending home sales jumped again - up by 3.2% for the month of July. Following six straight months of increases, the pending sales index is now at its highest level since June of 2007, and is 12% above a year ago. Last week, Freddie Mac's home price index showed national prices up by an average 2.7%. Clear Capital's home price index, which digs into thousands of Zip codes and small neighborhoods, reported even larger gains - 7.3% during the period July 27th to August 25th. Last week, average rates on thirty-year fixed-rate mortgages declined to just below 5.2%, according to the Mortgage Bankers association's national survey. The Mortgage Bankers Association's top forecaster, Orawin Velz, continues to predict that the recession will be over shortly - or already is over.
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