Pending Home Sales Surprise, Biggest Annual Gain Since 2015

Despite disappointing slowdowns in sales of new- and existing-homes, pending home sales were expected to show a small positive gain in September but surprised with a 1.5% MoM pop (0.9% exp).

This is the strongest pending home sales index since Dec 2017…

Source: Bloomberg

The National Association of Realtors’ Index of pending home sales increased 6.3% in September from a year earlier on an unadjusted basis, the biggest gain since August 2015

Source: Bloomberg

“Even though home prices are rising faster than income, national buying power has increased” with lower interest rates, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a statement.

“But home prices are rising too fast because of insufficient inventory.”

The monthly gains in contracts were concentrated in the Midwest and South, while the West and Northeast recorded declines.