The National
Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Thursday its seasonally adjusted
pending home sales index (PHSI) jumped by 3.4 per cent m-o-m to 78.2 in March (the
highest level in a year), following an unrevised
1.6 per cent m-o-m rise in February. This
marked the strongest increase in pending home sales since December 2023 (+5.7
per cent m-o-m).
Economists had predicted
pending home sales to advance 0.3 per cent m-o-m in March.
On a y-o-y basis,
the index edged up 0.1 per cent after an unrevised 7.0 per cent plunge in February.
According to
the report, pending home sales operations climbed in the South (+7.0 per cent
m-o-m), West (+6.8 per cent m-o-m) and Northeast (+2.7 per cent m-o-m) but fell
in the Midwest (-4.3 per cent m-o-m).
Commenting on
the latest report, Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, noted that despite
March’s surge in the PHSI, the indicator remains in a fairly narrow range
over the last 12 months without a measurable breakout. "Meaningful gains
will only occur with declining mortgage rates and rising inventory," he
added.