Pending home sales fell 5.7% in January after a 9.5% year-over-year decrease and three consecutive months of declines, Realtor.com reports. Though economists polled by the Wall Street Journal initially predicted a 1% increase in pending home transactions, consumers pulled back as a result of rising interest rates, higher inflation, and a lack of housing supply. On the contrary, existing home sales saw an upward trend at the start of 2022, but a slower sales rate could be on the horizon after unusually high activity during the offseason for homebuying.
The numbers: U.S. pending home sales fell a sharp 5.7% in January, according to a monthly index released by the National Association of Realtors on Friday.
The West was the only region to see an increase in activity in January. All of the regions posted declines in activity compared with 12 months ago levels.
Big picture: In general, economists think 2022 will be a tough year for housing. They didn’t expect the wheels to start shaking on the sector so early in the year.
Advertisement
Related Stories
Housing Markets
10 Biggest Publicly Traded Home Builders Undeterred by High Mortgage Rates
Together, the 10 biggest builders recorded 77,255 new homes in Q1 2024, an increase of more than 18% from Q1 2023
Economics
Mortgage Rate Declines Could Boost Home Sales Following Months of Low Activity
Encouraging economic news bumped mortgage applications up by 2.6% for the week ending May 3
Affordability
NAHB Announces Plan to Address the Housing Affordability Crisis
The National Association of Home Builders has outlined a 10-step plan that would increase the supply of single-family and multifamily for-sale and for-rent housing