Pending home sales declined 10.6% in February, the National Association of Realtors reports.
After eight consecutive months of year-over-year increases, pending home sales fell 0.5% compared with February 2020. NAR credited the decline to record-low inventory in February.
“Only the upper-end market is experiencing more activity because of reasonable supply,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. “Demand, interestingly, does not yet appear to be impacted by recent modest rises in mortgage rates.”
Pending home sales declined in every region in February, falling 9.2% in the Northeast, 9.5% in the Midwest, 13.0% in the South and 7.4% in the West.
“Potential buyers may have to enlarge their geographic search areas, given the current tight market,” Yun added. “If there were a larger pool of inventory to select from—ideally a five- or a six-month supply—then more buyers would be able to purchase properties at an affordable price.”
The full NAR report can be found here.
