28.12.202315:02:00UTC+00U.S. Pending Home Sales Unexpectedly Unchanged In November

After reporting a steep drop in U.S. pending home sales in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Thursday showing pending home sales were unexpectedly unchanged in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index stayed at 71.6 in November after tumbling by a revised 1.2 percent in October.

Economists had expected pending home sales to jump by 1.0 percent compared to the 1.5 percent slump originally reported for the previous month.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

"Although declining mortgage rates did not induce more homebuyers to submit formal contracts in November, it has sparked a surge in interest, as evidenced by a higher number of lockbox openings," said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.

Pending home sales came in unchanged in November as a steep drop in pending sales in the South offset increases in other regions.

The report said pending home sales in the South plunged by 2.3 percent, while pending home sales in the West surged by 4.2 percent. Pending home sales in the Northeast and Midwest also rose by 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

"With mortgage rates falling further in December - leading to savings of around $300 per month from the recent cyclical peak in rates - home sales will improve in 2024," Yun predicted.