Having dropped 5.7 percent in January, the National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, a seasonally adjusted index for which 100 denotes “an average level” of activity, “dwindled” another 4.1 percent last month to 104.5, which was 5.4 percent lower than at the same time last year and the fourth consecutive month-over-month decline in activity.
And in the euphemistic words of NAR’s Chief Economist, “fast-changing conditions regarding affordability are ahead.” And as such, “home sellers cannot simply bump up prices in the upcoming months, but need to assess the changing market conditions to attract buyers.”
Closer to home, pending sales activity in San Francisco has been down an average of 18 percent on a year-over-year basis in the first quarter to date with listed inventory at a 10-year seasonal high and price reductions on the rise, none of which should catch any plugged-in readers by surprise.