After the largest drop in history in April, pending home sales mounted a record comeback in May.
Funny how that works.
The Pending Home Sales Index increased by 44.3 percent to 99.6 in May, the highest month-over-month gain since the National Association of Realtors started the index in 2001. That comes a month after back-to-back decreases, including a 21.8 percent drop in April.
“This has been a spectacular recovery for contract signings and goes to show the resiliency of American consumers and their evergreen desire for homeownership,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said. “This bounce back also speaks to how the housing sector could lead the way for a broader economic recovery.”
NAR said every major region recorded an increase in month-over-month pending home sales transactions, while the South also experienced a year-over-year increase in pending transactions. Year-over-year, contract signings fell 5.1 percent nationwide.
“More listings are continuously appearing as the economy reopens, helping with inventory choices,” Yun said. “Still, more home construction is needed to counter the persistent underproduction of homes over the past decade.”
The Northeast PHSI grew 44.4 percent to 61.5 in May and was down 33.2 percent from a year ago. The index rose 37.2 percent to 98.8 in the Midwest and was down 1.4 percent from May 2019. The South increased 43.3 percent to 125.5 in May, up 1.9 percent from a year ago. Finally, the West increased 56.2 percent in May to 89.2 – down 2.5 percent from last May.