Pending Home Sales fell 2.1% from April to May per the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), coming in well below estimates of a 2.5% rise, following a 7.5% decline seen from March to April. Sales were also 6.6% lower than they were a year earlier. This report measures signed contracts on existing homes, making it an important forward-looking indicator for closings on these homes as measured in the Existing Home Sales report.
What’s the bottom line? The Pending Home Sales index took another turn lower in April after a significant drop in March, with NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, explaining, “the first half of the year did not meet expectations regarding home sales but exceeded expectations related to home prices. In the second half of 2024, look for moderately lower mortgage rates, higher home sales and stabilizing home prices.”