NEW YORK - Pending home sales increased 6.4% to a reading of 103.8 in August from an unrevised 3.2% rise to 97.6 in August, according to an index released today by the National Association of Realtors.
The seven consecutive months of increases in pending home sales marks the first time since its inception in 2001 that such a streak occurred, NAR said in a release.
Thomson Reuters’ poll of economists had predicted a 98.6 reading.
Year-over-year the pending homes sales index was up 12.4% from last August, when the index was at 92.4.
Regionally, pending sales were higher. The Northeast saw an 8.2% increase to 85.3, while sales rose 3.1% to 90.8 in the Midwest. In the South sales increased 0.8% to 104.6, while in the West, pending sales jumped 16.0% to 130.5.
“The rise in pending home sales shows buyers are returning to the market and signing contracts, but deals are not necessarily closing because of long delays related to short sales, and issues regarding complex new appraisal rules,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. “No doubt many first-time buyers are rushing to beat the deadline for the $8,000 tax credit, which expires at the end of next month,” he said.
“There is likely to be some double counting over a span of several months because some buyers whose contracts were cancelled have found another home and signed a new contract to buy,” Yun explained. “Perhaps the real question is how many transactions are being delayed in the pipeline, and how many are being cancelled? Without historic precedents, it’s challenging to assess.”
