Home for sale sign (Realtors) and potential exiting and pending home sales contract. (PHOTO: REUTERS)
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Thursday its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) increased 1.5% to 110.0, up from a slight downward revision of 108.4.
“Buyer demand is holding up impressively well this fall with Realtors® reporting much stronger foot traffic compared to a year ago 1,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist said. “Although depressed inventory levels are keeping home prices elevated in most of the country, steady job gains and growing evidence that wages are finally starting to tick up are encouraging more households to consider buying a home.”
The PHSI in the Northeast declined 1.6% to 96.5 in September, but is 7.7% higher on the year. In the Midwest, it fell slightly by 0.2% to 104.6 and is now just 1.0% lower than September 2015.
Pending home sales in the South increased 1.9% to an index of 122.1 and are 1.7% higher than last year. The index in the West gained 4.7% to 107.3 and is 4.0% higher on a year-over-year basis.
[brid video=”71176″ player=”2077″ title=”Contract Signings Post Small Gain in September”]
