U.S. Pending Home Sales Held Flat in April — NAR

By Will Feuer

The number of houses going under contract in the U.S. recorded no change in April as inventory of homes remains constrained and affordability challenges weigh. Here are the main takeaways from the National Association of Realtors' report released Thursday:

--The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator of home sales based on contract signings, held steady at 78.9 in April. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

--Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected the index to rise by 0.8%.

--Pending home sales declined by 20.3% in April, compared with the same month a year earlier.

--The lack of housing inventory is a major constraint to rising sales, as well as affordability pressures, according to Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "Affordability challenges certainly remain and continue to hold back contract signings, but a sizable increase in housing inventory will be critical to get more Americans moving," he said.

--Pending home sales rose in three of the four major U.S. regions in April from March. Transactions rose by 4.7% in the West, 3.6% in the Midwest and 0.1% in the South, but fell by 11.3% in the Northeast.

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 25, 2023 10:14 ET (14:14 GMT)

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