The number of houses going under contract in the U.S. fell in November following a sharp gain the previous month, data from the National Association of Realtors showed Wednesday. Here are the report’s main takeaways:
- The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator of home sales based on contract signings, decreased 2.2 percent to 122.4 in November compared with the previous month.
- Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal expected sales to increase 0.8 percent.
- Pending home sales in November were 2.7 percent lower compared with the same month a year earlier.
The decline in sales could be attributed to low housing supply and buyers being hesitant about prices, said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “While I expect neither a price reduction, nor another year of record-pace price gains, the market will see more inventory in 2022 and that will help some consumers with affordability,” he said.
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