U.S. Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Spike 6.1% March

(RTTNews) - Partly reflecting a substantial increase in the South, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing an unexpected spike by pending home sales in the U.S. in the month of March.

NAR said its pending home sales index surged by 6.1 percent to 76.5 in March after jumping by 2.1 percent to a revised to 72.1 in February. Economists had expected pending home sales to dip by 0.3 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

The unexpected increase came as pending home sales in the South soared by 9.8 percent. Pending home sales in the Midwest and West also shot up by 4.9 percent and 4.8 percent, respectively, while pending home sales in the Northeast fell by 0.5 percent.

"While contract signings are not a guarantee of eventual closings, the solid rise in pending home sales implies a sizable build-up of potential home buyers, fueled by ongoing job growth," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

The National Association of Realtors released a separate report last Thursday showing a steep drop by U.S. existing home sales in the month of March.

NAR said existing home sales plunged by 5.9 percent to an annual rate of 4.02 million in March after surging by 4.4 percent to a revised rate of 4.27 million in February.

Economists had expected existing home sales to tumble by 3.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million from the 4.26 million originally reported for the previous month.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released a report last Wednesday showing new home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said new home sales spiked by 7.4 percent to an annual rate of 724,000 in March after jumping by 3.1 percent to a revised rate of 674,000 in February.

Economists had expected new home sales to climb by 0.9 percent to a rate of 682,000 from the 676,000 originally reported for the previous month.