Despite an improvement in the other three regions, pending home sales in the South sank — sending the overall national level lower. The drop was again blamed on supply.
May 2018’s Pending Home Sales Index preliminarily was a seasonally adjusted 105.9. Reflected in the index is a large national sample of contract signings.
Last month’s index level was an indication that pending home sales have subsided to the lowest volume since January, when the index landed at 104.3.
The National Association of Realtors Wednesday released the index, which provides an indication of existing home sales during the following two months.
Pending home sales
retreated 0.5 percent compared to the previous month — when they were also lower. The index was off 2.2 percent from the same month in 2017.
Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said pending home sales underperformed last month as a result of an inadequate supply of homes for sale.
“Realtors in most of the country continue to describe their markets as highly competitive and fast moving,” Yun stated. “But without enough new and existing inventory for sale, activity has essentially stalled.”
In the South, the Pending Home Sales Index was a seasonally adjusted 122.9, tumbling from April by 3.5 percent. The South was the only region with a decline.
The index rose 0.6 percent in the West to 94.7, while it was up 2.0 percent in the Northeast to 92.4 and increased 2.9 percent in the Midwest to 101.4.
