United States Pending Home Sales

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the US jumped 4.4 percent from a year earlier in October of 2019 amid lower mortgage rates. That was the largest annual increase in pending home sales since December 2015, as contracts were up in all 4 main regions: the West (7.5 percent), the South (5.1 percent), the Northeast (3 percent) and the Midwest (1.8 percent). On a monthly basis, pending home sales shrank 1.7 percent, while markets were expecting a 0.8 percent rise. The Northeast experienced a minor uptick (1.9 percent), but the other three major US regions reported declines: the West (-3.4 percent), the Midwest (-2.7 percent) and the South (-1.7 percent). Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, noted the decline in inventory and a small rise in mortgage rates in October from September to, in part, explain this month’s signings drop. “While contract signings have decreased, the overall economic landscape remains favorable,” Yun said.

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the US jumped 3.9 percent from a year earlier in September 2019 amid lower mortgage rates, easily beating market expectations of 1.4 percent. That was the largest annual increase in pending home sales since December 2015, as contracts were up in the South (5.7 percent), West (3.4 percent), Midwest (2.7 percent), and Northeast (1.3 percent). On a monthly basis, pending home sales climbed 1.5 percent, while markets had forecast a 0.9 percent rise.

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the US jumped 2.5 percent from a year earlier in August 2019 amid lower mortgage rates, after falling 0.3 percent in July and easily beating market expectations of 1.9 percent drop. Pending home sales were up in the South (1.4 percent), West (3.1 percent), Midwest (0.6 percent), and Northeast (1.4 percent). On a monthly basis, pending home sales climbed 1.6 percent, while markets had forecast a 0.9 percent increase.

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the US fell 0.3 percent from a year earlier in July 2019 despite lower mortgage rates, after posting the first increase in one-and-a-half years in June. Pending home sales were down in the Midwest (-1.2 percent) and Northeast (-0.9 percent), but were up in the South (0.1 percent) and West (0.3 percent). On a monthly basis, pending home sales slumped 2.5 percent, while markets had forecast a flat reading.

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the US rose 1.6 percent in June 2019, following 17 consecutive months of decreases and beating market expectations of 1.4 percent, amid lower mortgage rates. Pending home sales were up across all regions: the South (1.4 percent); Midwest (1.7 percent); West (2.5 percent); and Northeast (0.9 percent). On a monthly basis, pending home sales jumped 2.8 percent, easily beating market consensus of 0.5 percent.

Contracts to buy previously owned homes in the United States dropped 0.7 percent from a year earlier in May 2019, following a 2.0 percent decline in the previous month. That was the 17th consecutive month of annual decreases, as sales fell in the West (-3.1 percent), Midwest (-1.2 percent) and Northeast (-0.5 percent). By contrast, home sales rose 0.7 percent in the South. On a month-over-month basis, sales surged 1.1 percent in May, more than an expected 1.0 percent advance and following a 1.5 percent drop in April.