U.S. Pending Home Sales Fell in March
April 27 2017 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Mitchell
The number of homes across the U.S. that went under contract
fell in March, suggesting the housing market may have lost momentum
after a sharp rise in prices.
Pending home sales fell 0.8% from a month earlier to an index of
111.4, the trade group National Association of Realtors said
Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had
expected sales to fall 1%.
The index offers a timely but imprecise look at the housing
market because it measures sales at the earliest stage of the often
weeks-long purchasing process--when contracts are signed, but
before the final step, known as "closing." Many contracts are
canceled before closing.
Home prices have risen quickly in recent years--far faster than
Americans' incomes--due to more Americans entering the home search
and a limited number of homes on the market. Many economists say
that dynamic won't last, and that home prices are becoming too high
for many buyers. Mortgage rates have also risen over the past year,
though they have declined a bit in recent weeks.
Despite last month's decline, the housing market appears strong.
Pending home sales are 0.8% above their year-earlier level. And the
NAR's more closely watched measure, existing-home sales, rose to
the highest level in a decade March, the group said last week. That
index measures sales once they are final.
Write to Josh Mitchell at joshua.mitchell@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 27, 2017 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
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