Pending home sales beat expectations with a positive month for the first time in six months, according to the National Association of Realtors…(NAR)
- M-O-M: The Pending Home Sales Index was up a slight 0.7% to 99.9 in May, An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
- Y-O-Y: The index was down 13.6% compared to the same time last year.
SWING & A MISS: Economists had projected that pending sales would fall 3.7%.
Regionally, the South continues to dominate with only region with an index over 100 at 119.0 in May, up 0.2% from April.
- The Midwest fell 1.7% to an index of 98.6 followed by the Northeast with a 15.4% drop to 86.7 and The West falling 5.0% to 81.6.
Lawrence Yun, NAR Chief Economist, said the slowing sales is all about rates…
- “Despite the small gain in pending sales from the prior month, the housing market is clearly undergoing a transition…Contract signings are down sizably from a year ago because of much higher mortgage rates.”