Having ticked up 1.5 percent in September, the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, for which 100 denotes “an average level” of activity, dropped 1.7 percent in October to 106.7.
On a year-over-year basis, however, the pace of new contract signings across the U.S. is running 4.4 percent higher than at the same time last year but remains 5.0 percent below the cyclical high of 112.3 recorded in early 2017.
And having declined 1.3 percent in September, the regional Pending Home Sale Index for the West dropped another 3.4 percent in October to a below average 91.9 but remains 7.5 percent higher than at the same time last year.
In San Francisco proper, pending sales activity has ticked up over the past couple of weeks and is currently running around 6 percent higher than at the same time last year, albeit with a lower average listed price per square foot for those homes which are currently in contract, as we first reported earlier this week.