Both Pending and Existing Home Sales Beat Forecasts:

U.S. home buyers signed more contracts to buy existing homes in March, as weather in much of the country warmed and as more listings came onto the market. An index of so-called "pending" home sales from the National Association of Realtors rose 3.4 percent from February, the first gain in nine months.

"After a dismal winter, more buyers got an opportunity to look at homes last month and are beginning to make contract offers," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors. "Sales activity is expected to steadily pick up as more inventory reaches the market, and from ongoing job creation in the economy."

The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.

In a separate report last week, The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday Existing Home Sales came in at an annualized rate of 4.59 million units, the market forecasts were only expecting a reading of 4.55 million units.

So, we have two reports that show the housing market slowly moving forward despite higher home prices and tighter credit which is a good sign for the Spring season. 

U.S. Housing Starts Climb in March:

The Commerce Department reported that groundbreaking increased 2.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 946,000.

Plus, February's data was actually better than first released. As February's starts were revised to show a 1.9 percent rise rather than the previously reported 0.2 percent fall.

Gaines in home building has been difficult as a brutally cold winter weighed on home building in December and January.  Activity has also been hampered by shortages of building lots and skilled labor as well as rising prices for materials.

Groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, surged 6.0 percent to a 635,000-unit pace last month. Starts for the volatile multi-family homes segment fell 3.1 percent to a 311,000-unit rate. 

Survey: Consumer Confidence in Housing Hot This Spring

DAILY REAL ESTATE NEWS | TUESDAY, APRIL 08, 2014

Consumer attitudes are reflecting greater optimism in the housing market heading into real estate's traditionally strong spring selling season, according to Fannie Mae's March 2014 National Housing Survey.

In the poll of 1,000 people, 38 percent say it's a good time to sell a home, up from 26 percent a year ago. The poll also shows that 69 percent of those surveyed say it's a good time to buy, and 52 percent say it's easier today to get financing for a home.

Americans also feel more confident about their personal finances: An all-time survey high of 40 percent say their personal financial situation has improved during the past year.

"The housing recovery continues to proceed in fits and starts," says Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist. "Rising mortgage rates and a lack of supply have dampened housing market momentum. However, we see several positive signs going into this year's spring home-buying season, compared with last year. For example, consumers are less pessimistic about their personal finances and more optimistic about the current selling environment and their ability to get a mortgage. Still, those who are pessimistic about buying or selling a home today tend to point to economic conditions as the primary issue, and most consumers continue to say the economy is on the wrong track. Looking forward, we expect to see a pickup in economic growth later in the year, and this may boost the confidence of prospective buyers and sellers."

However, consumers' home-price expectations softened a bit in the latest survey. The average 12-month home-price-change expectation fell from last month, reaching 2.7 percent, the survey shows. Also, slightly fewer respondents — 48 percent — said they thought home prices would rise in the next 12 months.

Source: Fannie Mae

Internet Traffic Points to Strong Spring:

Visits to real estate sites from desktop computers surged 15 percent in March compared to the month before, indicating the spring homebuying season has gotten off to a hot start.

Consumers recorded about 362 million visits to real estate sites from desktop computers last month, a good chunk more than February’s 316 million visitors, according to Experian Marketing Services.

Zillow maintained its sizable Web market lead in the real estate category in March — capturing 16.46 percent of visits to real estate sites from desktop computers for the month, according to Experian, which measures total hits and not unique site visitors.

Zillow’s two chief competitors — Trulia, with 8.91 percent market share, and realtor.com, with 7.49 percent market share — closed in slightly on Zillow’s lead over the course of the month. Compared to their February positions, Trulia and realtor.com closed their gaps with Zillow by 0.32 percentage points and 0.3 percentage points, respectively, for the month.

By capturing 0.86 percent of March’s real estate traffic from desktop computers, Re/Max jumped to No. 18, joining Century 21 Real Estate — which ranked No. 16 with 0.99 percent Web market share in March — as the only other real estate franchisor website in the top 20.