News :Pending home sales jumped 6.4% in August

Meritage takes over Province in Maricopa - Meritage Homes Corp. has purchased a partially completed adult community in Maricopa. Scottsdale-based Meritage ! bought 433 finished lots and 885 planned lots, which are part of the Province community. Province was voted the Best Active Adult community in 2006 by the National Association of Home Builders' 50+ Housing Council. Since opening in 2003, approximately 900 homesites have been sold. "Meritage has been actively pursuing opportunities to acquire finished lots in good submarkets where we believe we can offer high-quality homes at very competitive prices, providing great values to our customers," said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and CEO, Meritage Homes.
http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2009/10/05/daily7.html?s=industry&i=resi_real_estate

Real Estate Outlook: Sales Stats and Rates - There was a bumper crop of positives this past week for housing. Pending home sales jumped 6.4% in August marking the seventh straight month of increases in the National Association of Realtors' forwa! rd-looking index - the longest streak since 2001. Regionally, pending sales were up a stunning 16% in the Western states. New home sales were also up in the latest month - 0.7% nationwide, according to the Commerce Department. Even home prices have now turned around and are rising just about everywhere. The Case-Shiller 20-city price index took its biggest jump in four years last month - up by 1.6%. This index has been the darkest, gloomiest measure of the real estate market's direction in recent years, and the last major index to turn around this year. So, its latest increase is great news! And finally, mortgage rates dipped even lower last week to 4.9%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
http://realtytimes.com/rtpages/20091006_r! ealestat eoutlook.htm

! Additional articles that you may find of interest:

Cities, homebuilders differ over impact fees-
http://www.eastvalleytri! bune.com/story/145392

Real Estate Prices Could Climb Slowly-
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2009100501

Builders Cut Back on Incentives-
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2009100505
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