Economists' Outlook

Housing stats and analysis from NAR's research experts.

Pending Home Sales Weaken 4.1% in February 2022

NAR released a summary of pending home sales data showing that February's pending home sales pace declined 4.1% last month and fell 5.4% from a year ago.

Bar graph: Pending Home Sales, February 2021 to February 2022

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

All four regions of the U.S. showed declines from a year ago. The Northeast had the largest dip of 9.2% followed by the West with a drop in contract signings of 5.3%. The Midwest fell 5.2% followed by the South with the smallest decline of 4.3%.

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

From last month, three of the four regions showed reductions in contract signings. The Northeast region had the only gain of 1.9%. The Midwest region had the largest dip of 6.0% followed by the West with a decrease of 5.4%. The Midwest had the smallest decline of 4.4%.

The U.S. pending home sales index level for the month was 104.9.

February's contract signings bring the pending index above the 100-level mark for the 21st-consecutive month.

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