1st decline after 4 consecutive months of gains
- Pending home sales fell by -2.2% vs. 3.0% estimate. That is the 1st drop after 4 consecutive months of gains
- Northeast +2%
- Midwest -3.2%
- South -3%
- West -2.6%
About 80% of the pending sales will become existing home sales transactions within 2 months. The housing market has been on fire as Covid related moves from urban areas to suburbia has pushed up prices and sales. However supply conditions remain stretched.
From the National Association of Realtors Lawrence Yun:
The demand for homebuying remains super strong, even with a slight monthly pullback in September, and we are still likely to end the year with more homes sold overall in 2020 that in 2019. With persistent low mortgage rates and some degree of a continuing jobs recovery, more contract signings are expected in the near future
