U.S. Pending Home Sales Fell in September, Missing Expectations -- NAR
October 28 2021 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
The number of houses going under contract in the U.S. declined
in September after rising sharply in August, according to data from
the National Association of Realtors released Thursday. Here are
the report's main takeaways:
--The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator of
home sales based on contract signings, decreased 2.3% to 116.7 in
September compared with the previous month.
--Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the
indicator to increase by 1.0% on month.
--Pending home sales were down 8.0% in September compared with
the same month a year earlier.
--Contract transactions are showing signs of a calmer home price
trend as the market is running ahead of pre-pandemic activity, said
Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "Some potential buyers have
momentarily paused their home search with intentions to resume in
2022," he said.
--Month-on-month transactions in September fell in all four U.S.
regions. Activity declined the most in the Midwest, by 3.5%,
followed by the Northeast, where contract signings decreased 3.2%.
Pending home sales in the South and in the West dropped by 1.8% and
1.4%, respectively.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 28, 2021 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)
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