Economists' Outlook

Housing stats and analysis from NAR's research experts.

July 2022 Pending Home Sales Falls to the Lowest Pace Since April 2020

NAR released a summary of pending home sales data showing that July's pending home sales pace weakened 1.0% last month and fell 19.9% from a year ago. The last time the index was that low was April of 2020 during the pandemic, and the index was 71.6.

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

Pending sales represent homes with a signed contract to purchase but which have yet to close. They tend to lead existing-home sales data by 1 to 2 months.

All four regions showed double-digit declines from a year ago. The West had the most significant dip of 30.1%, followed by the South with a drop in contract signings of 20%. The Northeast fell 15.4%, followed by the Midwest with the smallest decline of 13.4%.

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

From last month, three of the four regions showed reductions in contract signings. The West region had the only gain of 2.2%. The Midwest had the most significant dip of 2.7%, followed by the Northeast with a decrease of 1.9%. The South had the smallest decline of 1.1%.

The U.S. pending home sales index level for July was 89.8.

July's contract signings bring the pending index below the 100-level mark for the fourth consecutive month.

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

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

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