Pending home sales declined 4.6% to a reading of 84.5 in September from an unrevised 1.2% increase to 88.6 in August, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
Economists predicted a 0.1% decrease for the index.
Year over year, the pending homes sales index is up 6.4% from last September, when the figure was 79.4.