Having ticked up 3.8 percent in March, the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, for which 100 denotes “an average level” of activity, dropped 1.5 percent last month to 104.3 and is now running 2.0 percent lower on a year-over-year basis and 7.1 percent below a cyclical high of 112.3 recorded in early 2017.
At the same time, the inventory of homes on the market at the end of April ticked up 9.6 percent to 1.83 million homes, which is 1.7 percent higher versus the same time last year.
Out West, the regional Pending Home Sale Index fell 1.8 percent in April to 93.5, which is 1.5 percent below its mark at the same time last year. And of course, the pace of sales in San Francisco has dropped as well.