Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Pending home sales declined 4.6% in October

- — Courtesy of the National Associatio­n of Realtors

WASHINGTON — Pending home sales slid for the fifth consecutiv­e month in October, according to the National Associatio­n of Realtors. Three of four U.S. regions recorded month-over-month decreases, and all four regions recorded year-overyear declines in transactio­ns.

The Pending Home Sales Index, www.nar.realtor/pending-home-sales, a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings, sank 4.6 percent to 77.1 in October. Year over year, pending transactio­ns slipped by 37.0 percent. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

“October was a difficult month for homebuyers as they faced 20-year-high mortgage rates,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “The West region, in particular, suffered from the combinatio­n of high interest rates and expensive home prices. Only the Midwest squeaked out a gain.

“The upcoming months should see a return of buyers, as mortgage rates appear to have already peaked and have been coming down since mid-November.”

PENDING HOME SALES REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

The Northeast PHSI sank 4.3 percent from last month to 68.7, a fall of 29.5 percent from October 2021. The Midwest index increased 3.3 percent to 83.5 in October, a decrease of 32.1 percent from one year ago.

The South PHSI dropped 6.4 percent to 90.6 in October, falling 38.2 percent from the prior year. The West index slipped by 11.3 percent in October to 55.6, sinking 46.2 percent from October 2021.

The National Associatio­n of Realtors is America’s largest trade associatio­n, representi­ng more than 1.5 million members involved in all aspects of the residentia­l and commercial real estate industries.

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