Pending Home Sales Decline 2.6% in August

By Stevie Duffin Updated on 9/25/2013

According to data presented by the National Association of Realtors, the number of signed home sales contracts in August declined 2.6% from July, with the nation still striving to recover from one of the most significant housing downturns since the Great Depression.

In addition, the NAR discovered that the real estate rehabilitation is ongoing, though it has been suffering due to many obstacles and market instability. To clarify, this NAR data solely reflects real estate contracts and does not include closings.

Compared to last year’s data, August pending home sales saw a substantial increase, rising 10.7% and suggesting some genuine improvement in the overall real estate market for 2012.

The National Association of Realtors’ sales index for pending homes additionally declined to 99.2 for the month of August, dropping from 101.9 in July, yet increasing from 89.6 for August 2011 measurements.

According to Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, the monthly performance of the contract signings has been inconsistent with the level of shortages for cheaper inventory throughout the country, including price ranges in the west; however, activity has otherwise remained consistently higher than last year.

While home sales were poor during 2008-2011, 2012 has shown a trend of growth, with the pending sales index reaching an incredible 16 straight months of year-over-year growth.

Yun expects these existing home sales to increase to 9%, reaching 4.64 million units in 2012. Yun also forecasts an 8% improvement next year.