Despite regional fluctuations, pending home sales unchanged nationally in April
It’s a big country, obviously, and April’s pending home sales report reveals just how big it is. In the Northeast, contract activity had a huge drop of 11.3% from March, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). But the three other regions showed modest increases. Add it all up, and pending home sales were unchanged in April from the month before.
However, year-over-year numbers were down by 20.3% in NAR’s Pending Home Sale Index. The PHSI is a forward-looking metric of sales based on contract signings, equates an index of 100 to the level of contract activity in 2001, when NAR started tracking the contract signing. All four major regions fell below that level in April, though contract activity in the South almost reached the 100 mark.
"Not all buying interests are being completed due to limited inventory," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Affordability challenges certainly remain and continue to hold back contract signings, but a sizeable increase in housing inventory will be critical to get more Americans moving."
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Regional breakdown
Three of the four major regions were up from March, and all four were down from April 2022.
- Northeast: down 11.3% to 59.1, down 21.8% from April 2022
- Midwest: up 3.6% to 78.4, down 21.4% from April 2022
- South: up 0.1% to 99.6, down 16.7% from April 2022
- West: up 4.7% to 62.2, down 26.0% from April 2022
"Minor monthly variations in regional activity are typical," said Yun. "However, cumulative results over many years clearly point towards a much greater number of home sales in the South.
"The South's pending home sales activity is similar to that of 2001, but the Midwest's activity has decreased by 22% in that same period, and the Northeast and West regions are both about 40% lower than they were in 2001."
April pending home sales numbers show just how important it use to work with a local lender who understands what’s happening in your specific market. Find an expert loan officer in your area to help you understand how to make the most of what’s happening in your neighborhood.
Source: https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/pending-home-sales-recorded-no-change-in-april