U.S. Pending Home Sales Fall in October -- NAR
November 30 2020 - 10:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Xavier Fontdegloria
The number of houses going under contract in the U.S. decreased
in October for the second consecutive month, data from the National
Association of Realtors showed Monday. Here are the report's main
takeaways:
--The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator of
home sales based on contract signings, fell 1.1% to 128.9 in
October. This marks the second straight month of declines,
following four months of extended gains and reaching in August the
highest level in the historical series.
--Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the
indicator to grow at a rate of 2%. In September, the index
decreased by 2.2%.
--Pending home sales were up 20.2% in October compared with the
same month a year earlier.
--"The housing market is still hot, but we may be starting to
see rising home prices hurting affordability," said Lawrence Yun,
the National Association of Realtors' chief economist. Mr. Yun said
both the inventory of homes for sale and mortgage rates are now at
historic lows, two factors that--plus very strong demand--have
pushed home prices to levels that are making it difficult to save
for a down payment, particularly among first-time buyers.
--By region, the index only climbed in November in the South, by
a marginal 0.1%. In the West it remained flat, while it decreased
in the Midwest by 0.7%, and in the Northeast by 5.9%.
Write to Xavier Fontdegloria at xavier.fontdegloria@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 30, 2020 10:14 ET (15:14 GMT)
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