Economists' Outlook

Housing stats and analysis from NAR's research experts.

August 2022 Pending Home Sales Down

NAR released a summary of pending home sales data showing that August’s pending home sales pace weakened 2.0% last month and fell 24.2% from a year ago.

Bar graph: Pending Home Sales Index, August 2021 to August 2022

Pending sales represent homes with a signed contract to purchase but have yet to close. They tend to lead existing-home sales data by one to two months.

All four regions showed double-digit declines from a year ago. The West had the most significant dip of 31.3%, followed by the South with a drop in contract signings of 24.2%. The Midwest fell 21.1%, followed by the Northeast with the smallest decline of 19.0%.

Bar graph: U.S. and Regional Pending Sales, August 2022 and August 2021

From last month, three of the four regions showed reductions in contract signings. The West region had the only gain of 1.4%. The Midwest had the most significant dip of 5.2%, followed by the Northeast, with a decrease of 3.4%. The South had the smallest decline of 0.9%.

The U.S. pending home sales index level for August was 88.4.

August’s contract signings bring the pending index below the 100-level mark for the fifth consecutive month.

The 100 level is based on a 2001 benchmark and is consistent with existing home sales above the 5 million mark.

Line graph: U.S. and Regional Pending Home Sales Index, January 2019 to July 2022

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