![]() Pending home sales saw an increase of just under 1% nationally in July over the month before, with numbers representing curious regional differences. Those statistics were compiled in a new survey released by the National Association of Realtors, which also revealed that the pending home sales increase of July was the second such national increase in a row. The association’s Pending Home Sales Index, which looks at home sales based upon contract signings, was up to 77.6 at mid-summer. While that number indicates across the board activity, it is nevertheless around 14% lower than where things stood in July of 2022. In a statement, Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the July numbers show the "potential for further increases in light of the fact that many people have lost out on multiple home buying offers.” Taking a holistic view, Yun continued: “Jobs are being added and, thereby, enlarging the pool of prospective home buyers.” But Yun added that the continuing presence of a limited national inventory combined with rising mortgage rates threatened to prove a drag on near-term home buying. Those mortgage rates are now at 7.2%, according to Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, the highest level seen since the summer of 2001. Despite the mortgage rate factor, things have been booming in the South, with pending home sales, according to the Index, accounting for a 95.3 reading. The Midwest market, which has struggled since the Covid 19 pandemic, came in with a 77.5 reading, followed by the Northeast with a 63.2 reading. In the West, the latest numbers represented a somewhat depressed market, with a 61.3 reading. That number, according to the NAR, comprised a nearly 13% decline in sales over the summer of 2022. The Pending Homes Sales Index, after a wild post-pandemic boom in 2021, saw a gentle decline in 2022 from 99.0 in April to 76.3 by the end of the year. The trendline for most of 2023, thus far, has seen readings topping out at 83.2 in February, down to 76.6 in May. Pending home sales numbers tend to provide a snapshot of what the existing homes sales market will look like 30 to 60 days in the future. By Garry Boulard
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