Pending Sales Faded Along with Inventory in December!

Pending home sales fell for the second month in December and are finishing up the year well below their December 2020 level. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said its Pending Home Sale Index (PHSI) was down 3.8 percent from November and is 6.9 percent below its level at the end of the prior year. Pending sales had declined 2.2 percent in November.

The PHSI, which is based on signed contracts for the purchase of pre-owned single-family houses, townhomes, condos, and cooperative apartments, dipped from 122.4 in November to 117.7. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

Analysts polled by Econoday had expected the index to rise 0.6 percent. Those polled for Trading Economics were closer to the mark with a consensus of an 0.2 percent decline. It was an unusually large gap between the two forecasts which are typically nearly identical.

By: Jann Swanson Mortgage News Daily Thu, Jan 27 2022, 10:33 AM