Pending home sales declined 1.5% in October to a level of 71.4 on the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index—the lowest level recorded on the index since it was created in 2001. Compared with October 2022, pending home sales were down 8.5%.
“During October, mortgage rates were at their highest, and contract signings for existing homes were at their lowest in more than 20 years,” stated Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “Recent weeks’ successive declines in mortgage rates will help qualify more home buyers, but limited housing inventory is significantly preventing housing demand from fully being satisfied. Multiple offers, of course, yield only one winner, with the rest left to continue their search.”
Regionally, pending home sales fell 2.7% in the Northeast, 0.4% in the Midwest, 1.9% in the South and 6.0% in the West.
The full NAR report can be found here.
