Pending home sales declined for the month in November but remained significantly higher than a year earlier, according to a new report released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors.
Contract signings were up 16.4 percent from November 2019 – and were a record high for the month of November. Still, sales decreased 2.6 percent from October.
“The latest monthly decline is largely due to the shortage of inventory and fast-rising home prices,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “It is important to keep in mind that the current sales and prices are far stronger than a year ago.”
Regionally, the Northeast Pending Home Sales Index was 15.3 percent higher than November 2019 (and down 3.3 percent for the month), while the Midwest was up 14.1 percent for the year and down 3.1 percent for the month.
In the South, sales were up 21.3 percent for the year and down 1.1 percent for the month. Sales in the West were up 10.4 percent for the year and down 4.7 percent for the month.
“The market is incredibly swift this winter with the listed homes going under contract on average at less than a month due to a backlog of buyers wanting to take advantage of record-low mortgage rates,” Yun said.