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The ugly side of housing: low inventory

Housing Wire

After eight months of consecutive gains, the consequences of low inventory finally caught up with the housing market in February. drop in the number of homes in contract from the prior month, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors. An index of 100 is equivalent to the level of pending sales in 2001.

Inventory 500
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Pending home sales pick up in February: NAR

Housing Wire

For comparison, the index is benchmarked at a reading of 100 based on 2001 contract activity. Ongoing job gains are clearly increasing demand along with more inventory.” from January to February due to steadily growing inventory. Overall, active inventory grew 14.8% higher than one year ago.

Inventory 458
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Pending home sales were flat in April, but the South is a bright spot

Housing Wire

“Elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainty, along with still-low inventory, means that new pending sales were down more than 20% from a year ago, and were lower even compared to 2019 levels.” An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. Regionally, the Midwest (78.4), South (99.6), and West (62.2)

Inventory 384
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Pending home sales recede in January: NAR

Housing Wire

For comparison, the index is benchmarked at a reading of 100 based on 2001 contract activity. Meanwhile, new home sales , which are also a measure of contract signings, reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 661,000 in January, up 1.5% Overall active inventory improved 7.9% from December’s annualized rate.

Contracts 432
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Pending home sales surged in December: NAR

Housing Wire

For comparison, the index is benchmarked at a reading of 100 based on 2001 contract activity. New home sales , another measure of contract signings, rose 8% in December on the back of declining mortgage rates. The Northeast was the only region to see a decline in contract signings, with a drop of 3% month over month and 3.9%

Contracts 458
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Pending home sales rose 0.9% in July

Housing Wire

An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. “The small gain in contract signings shows the potential for further increases in light of the fact that many people have lost out on multiple home buying offers,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Inventory 421
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Pending home sales fell 2.7% in May though demand remains strong

Housing Wire

An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001. Despite sluggish pending contract signings, the housing market is resilient with approximately three offers for each listing,” Lawrence Yun , the chief economist of NAR, said in a statement. The NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index fell to a reading of 76.5

Contracts 370