NAR: Pending Home Sales Index Gains 1.4% to 110.5 in March

Pending home sales increased 1.4% to an index reading of 110.5 in March, after a revised 3.4% gain to 109.0 in January, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted the index would be up 0.5%

The February increase was first reported as 3.5% to 109.1.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001.

Year-over-year the pending homes sales index increased 1.4% from last March, when the index was 109.0.

Regionally, pending sales were mostly higher. The Northeast saw a 3.2% rise to 97.0, while sales fell 1.8% in the West to 95.3. In the South, sales rose 3.0% to 125.4, and sales were up 0.2% to 112.8 in the Midwest.

“Despite supply deficiencies in plenty of areas, contract activity was fairly strong in a majority of markets in March,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “This spring’s surprisingly low mortgage rates are easing some of the affordability pressures potential buyers are experiencing and are taking away some of the sting from home prices that are still rising too fast and above wage growth.”

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