Pending home sales decreased in March for the first time since November 2022, according to the National Association of Realtors.
According to NAR’s Index, pending home sales waned by 5.2 percent to 78.9 in March, while pending transactions dropped by 23.2 percent year-over-year.
“The lack of housing inventory is a major constraint to rising sales,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “Multiple offers are still occurring on about a third of all listings, and 28 percent of homes are selling above list price. Limited housing supply is simply not meeting demand nationally.
“Sales in the second half of the year should be notably better than the first half as job gains continue and more favorable mortgage rates are expected,” said Yun. “Sales of new homes are already matching 2019 pre-COVID activity and are expected to increase in 2023, largely due to plentiful inventory in this segment of the market.”
Pending sales in the northeast fell 8.1 percent from last month, while the midwest dropped 10.7 percent. The south saw pending sales increase 0.2 percent last month, while the west saw an 8 percent reduction.
