Pending Home Sales Decline in October, for Second Month in a Row

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported their Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI), which is based on signed real estate contracts, not actual closings, for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops, declined for the second straight month in a row failing -1.1% in October to a reading of 128.9. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001 Year-over-year contract signings rose 20.2%. In remarks prepared for the PHSI Lawrence Yun NAR’s chief economist said, “Pending home transactions saw a small drop off from the prior month but still easily outperformed last year’s numbers for October,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “The housing market is still hot, but we may be starting to see rising home prices hurting affordability.”