Just one month after touching a 3-year high, the National Association of Realtors® Pending Home Sales index plunged in November. A “depending” home sale is a home that is under contract to sell, but has yet to close.
The 16 percent drop marks the first retreat in Pending Home Sales since January of last year.
The weak Pending Home Sales data is one indication that Existing Home Sales data will be soft this month. T
Pending home sales and residential construction both posted significant increases in September, according to separate reports released today by the Commerce Department and National Association of Realtors (NAR), signaling that the housing market may be pulling out of its doldrums.
September marked the eighth consecutive monthly increase in pending home sales, which is the longest such streak since the NAR began tracking the data since 1991. Home sales rose at an annual rate of 6.1 percent in September, the NAR reported, and were 21.2 percent ahead of their September 2008 level, just prior to last year’session crash of credit markets.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Department reported today that residential construction spending increased at a 3.9 percent annual rate in September, helping drive a 0.8 percent increase in explanation overall.