Pending Homes Sales Tumble 21.8% in April

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) has reported Pending Homes Sales Index (PHSI) declined -21.8% to 69.0 in February. Year-over-Year contract signings decreased -33.8%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. The PHSI is a leading indicator of housing activity, measures housing contract activity, and is based on signed real estate contracts, not actual closings, for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops. In prepared remarks Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist said, “With nearly all states under stay-at-home orders in April, it is no surprise to see the markedly reduced activity in signing contracts for home purchases.” Yun went onto say “Given the surprising resiliency of the housing market in the midst of the pandemic, the outlook for the remainder of the year has been upgraded for both home sales and prices, with home sales to decline by only 11% in 2020 with the median home price projected
to increase by 4%. In the prior forecast, sales were expected to fall by 15% and there was no increase in home price.”