A persistently tight inventory of homes for sale pulled down the monthly number of residential properties under contract. The South took the biggest hit.
July’s Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on single-family contract signings, came in at a seasonally adjusted 109.1.
Pending home sales retreated by nearly a percent when compared to the
downwardly revised level reported for the preceding month.
In addition, the inventory of homes under contract was down more than a percent versus the downwardly revised level for the same month last year.
The latest numbers were reported Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noted in the report that staggering inventory woes continued to hurt sales.
“The housing market remains stuck in a holding pattern with little signs of breaking through,” Yun stated. “The pace of new listings is not catching up with what’s being sold at an astonishingly fast pace.”
In the South, the index was 123.1, falling from June by nearly 2 percent — the biggest decline of any region.
A nearly 1 percent drop in the Midwest left July’s index there at 103.3.
The Northeast’s index slipped less than 1 percent to 97.7.
Only the West’s index experienced an increase: less than 1 percent to 102.3.
