Rochester Real Estate Shaping Up for Second Half

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in April, rose 6.3 percent to 88.2 from a reading of 83 in March. It's the highest index since October 2007, but remains 13.1 percent lower than that of April 2007, when it stood at 101.5 according to NAR.

Locally, pending sales tend to be under-reported, said Mary Jane Mahon, a Realtor with ReMax Realty Group and president of the Rochester chapter of Women's Council of Realtors.

"Agents are sometimes conservative about putting a home in the [multiple listing service] as 'pending' for fear that the deal doesn't stay together," Mahon said.

According to Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, sales contracts have picked up notably in areas of the country now undergoing significant price drops.

"Bargain hunters have entered the market en masse, especially in areas that have experienced double-digit price declines, but it's unclear if they are investors or owner-occupants," Yun noted in the latest report.

Mahon said Rochester's market is seeing more multiple offers on houses than earlier in the year, which she said is a good indicator that more interested buyers are out there.

"If a home hasn't been on the market too long, buyers need to go in with really strong offers," she said.