Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts to buy existing homes dropped to an unexpected 2.3% in September compared with August.
- Analysts were estimating a slight monthly gain. Sales were 8% lower than the figures recorded in September 2020.
- Pending sales are a forward-looking measure of closed sales in one to two months.
- Sales might have plunged, driven by higher mortgage rates. The average rate on 30-year fixed mortgages dropped below 3% in July and remained there until the first week of September.
- Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, stated that contract transactions had slowed a little in September and were showing signs of a moderating home price trend as the market is running over the pre-pandemic activity.
Regionally, pending sales in the Northeast dropped 3.2% month-over-month and were down 18.5% from a year ago. In the Midwest, sales declined 3.5% for the month and 5.8% over the year.
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Source: National Association of Realtors
