U.S. Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Unchanged In September

(RTTNews) - After reporting a sharp increase by pending home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing pending home sales unexpectedly came in flat in the month of September.

NAR said its pending homes sales index was unchanged at 74.8 in September after surging by 4.2 percent in August. Economists had expected pending home sales to jump by 1.0 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.

"Contract signings matched the second-strongest pace of the year," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "However, signings have yet to fully reach the level needed for a healthy market despite mortgage rates reaching a one-year low."

He added, "A record-high stock market and growing housing wealth in September were not enough to offset a likely softening job market."

Pending home sales came in unchanged in September as increases in the Northeast and South were offset by decreases in the Midwest and West.

The report said pending home sales spiked by 3.1 percent in the Northeast and shot up by 1.1 percent in the South but tumbled by 3.4 percent in the Midwest and dipped by 0.2 percent in the West.

"Looking ahead, mortgage rates are trending toward three-year lows, which should further improve affordability, though the government shutdown could temporarily slow home sales activity, Yun said.

NAR noted September's REALTORS Confidence Index survey showed 20 percent of NAR members expect an increase in buyer traffic over the next three months, up slightly from 19 percent in August but down slightly from 21 percent a year ago.

Meanwhile, 19 percent of NAR members expect an increase in seller traffic, unchanged from the previous month and down slightly from 20 percent in September 2024, NAR added.