Having dropped to its lowest level since January of 2015 this past September, the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, for which 100 denotes “an average level” of activity, ticked up 3.5 percent in October to 109.3.
With October’s gain, the index remains 0.6 percent lower versus the same time last year and 2.7 percent below its 2017 peak of 112.3 in February. And the National Association of Realtors is still forecasting that total existing home sales in the U.S. will be lower this year than the year before.
In the West, the index for pending home sales slipped 0.7 percent to 101.6 percent in October which is 4.4 percent lower versus the same time last year, down from 2.9 percent lower on a year-over-year basis in September. The other three major regions all recorded month-over-month gains with the South leading the way (up 7.0 percent).