Pending Home Sales Tumble 4.9% YoY - 14th Straight Month Of Declines

With home price growth at the slowest rate since 2012, rates falling, and existing home sales having rebounded notably, pending home sales are expected to slow very modestly in February after rebounding in January, but they fell more than expected.

Pending Home Sales fell 1.0% MoM (against expectations of a 0.5% decline)

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, is (surprise, surprise) optimistic...

“In January, pending contracts were up close to 5 percent, so this month’s 1 percent drop is not a significant concern,” he said.

“As a whole, these numbers indicate that a cyclical low in sales is in the past but activity is not matching the frenzied pace of last spring.”

Yun added that despite the growth in the West, the region’s current sales are well below the sales activity from 2018.

“There is a lack of inventory in the West and prices have risen too fast. Job creation in the West is solid, but there is ll a desperate need for more home construction.”

More