MW: Pending home sales slide to lowest in seven months
A gauge of pending home sales fell in August, signalling more choppiness in a housing market starved for inventory.
The National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index slumped 2.4% to 108.5 in August. That was 0.2% lower than a year ago, and July’s reading was revised down to 111.2.
Economists surveyed by EconoDay had forecast a 0.5% gain.
The index forecasts future sales by tracking real estate transactions in which a contract has been signed but the deal has not closed.
In August, only the Northeast region saw an increase, of 1.3%. It was also the only region in which the index reading is higher than its level a year ago.
NAR continues to blame tight inventory for setbacks in the market. “Prospective buyers appear to be either wavering at the steeper home prices pushed up by inventory shortages or disheartened by the competition for the miniscule number of affordable listings,” the group said in a release.
Inventory of previously-owned homes has declined on a yearly basis for 15 straight months.
