Pending home sales had a 0.9 percent boost in June after two straight months of sales declines, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
Despite the uptick, pending sales remain below June 2017 sales by 2.5 percent.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the growth in existing inventory aided the increase in contract signings in June.
“Home shoppers in a majority of markets had a little more success finding a home to buy last month,” Yun said in a statement. “The positive forces of faster economic growth and steady hiring are being met by the negative forces of higher home prices and mortgage rates. Even with slightly more homeowners putting their home on the market, inventory is still subpar and not meeting demand. As a result, affordability constraints are pricing out some would-be buyers and keeping overall sales activity below last year’s pace.”
Regionally, pending sales in the Northeast increased 1.4 percent compared with May. The Midwest rose 0.5 percent, and the South and West inched upward 1.1 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively.
