Pending Home Sales Rise To Highest Levels In Nearly Three Years: NAR Chief Economist Says ‘Homebuyer Momentum Is Building’

• The NAR report stated that pending home sales registered increases across all four regions – Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.
• Most of the gains were registered in the West, at 9.2%, followed by the South at 2.4%, the Northeast at 1.8%, and the Midwest at 1.3%.
• NAR’s Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun, said that more inventory choices now compared to last year are also attracting more homebuyers to the market.

Pending home sales rose to their highest levels in nearly three years on the back of building homebuyer momentum.

According to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), pending home sales rose 3.3% in November compared to October, beating a Dow Jones estimate of 1%, as cited by MarketWatch. On a year-on-year basis, the gain stood at 2.6%.

The NAR also revised the October gains upwards to 2.4% from 1.9%.

“Homebuyer momentum is building. The data shows the strongest performance of the year after accounting for seasonal factors, and the best performance in nearly three years, dating back to February 2023,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Gains In All Regions

The NAR report stated that pending home sales registered increases across all four regions – Northeast, Midwest, South, and West.

Most of the gains were registered in the West, at 9.2%, followed by the South at 2.4%, the Northeast at 1.8%, and the Midwest at 1.3%.

Yun added that more inventory choices now compared to last year are also attracting more homebuyers to the market. “Improving housing affordability–driven by lower mortgage rates and wage growth rising faster than home prices–is helping buyers test the market,” Yun said.

Mortgage Rates Edge Lower

This comes at a time when mortgage rates are inching lower, heading into the holiday season.

According to Freddie Mac data, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) declined to 6.18% as of December 24, down from 6.21%. A year ago at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 6.85%.

Meanwhile, U.S. equities declined in Monday morning’s trade. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down 0.61%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) declined 0.81%, while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fell 0.64%. Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ territory.

The iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF (IEF) was up 0.11% at the time of writing.

Also See: Elon Musk And Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu Held Discussions On Sunday – Yes, Tesla Was A Subject

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