Pending Home Sales Hover Near Record Lows In February

After puking in January, pending home sales were expected to rebound modestly (+1.5% MoM) in February and it did (+1.6% MoM) with a small upward revision for Jan (from -4.9% to -4.7% MoM). However, this still left sales down 2.2% YoY…

Source: Bloomberg

That leaves pending home sales hovering just off record lows…

Source: Bloomberg

A recent report showed listings may be starting to rise, with inventory reaching its highest level for a February since 2020.

“While modest sales growth might not stir excitement, it shows slow and steady progress from the lows of late last year,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement on Thursday.

The Midwest was the main driver of the increase in pending sales, with a 10.6% jump. Contract signings in the South, the nation’s biggest housing market, edged up 1.1%. They were little changed in the Northeast and dropped in the West.

“The high-cost regions in the Northeast and West experienced pullbacks due to affordability challenges,” Yun said.

The pending-home sales report is a leading indicator of existing-home sales given houses typically go under contract a month or two before they’re sold.