NAR released a summary of pending home sales data showing that April’s pending home sales pace decreased 3.9% last month and dropped 9.1% from a year ago.
Pending sales represent homes that have a signed contract to purchase on them but have yet to close. They tend to lead existing-home sales data by one to two months.
All four regions of the U.S. showed declines from a year ago. The Northeast had the largest dip of 14.3%, followed by the West with a drop in contract signings of 10.5%. The South fell 10.3%, followed by the Midwest with the smallest decline of 2.8%.
From last month, three of the four regions showed fewer contract signings. The Midwest region had the only gain, at 6.6%. The Northeast region had the largest dip of 16.2%, followed by the South with a decrease of 4.7%. The West had the smallest decline of 4.3%.
The U.S. pending home sales index level for the month was 99.3.
April’s contract signings bring the pending index below the 100-level mark for the first time since April 2020, when the index was 71.6.
The 100 level is based on a 2001 benchmark and is consistent with existing-home sales above the 5 million mark.