Pending Home Sales Index Falls 0.4%, Missing Expectations
This missed expectations of a 0.3 percent decline.
On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, pending home sales were up just five percent, missing expectations for a 8.7 percent rise.
January's numbers were revised down to show a 3.8 percent MoM and 9.6 percent YoY rise.
A regional breakdown shows that PHSI was up on a monthly basis in the West and Midwest, rising 0.1 percent to 101.4, and 0.4 percent to 103.6 respectively. It fell in the Northeast and South. In the former it was down 2.5 percent to 82.2, and in the latter it fell 0.3 percent to 118.8.
Pending home sales slipped because of declining inventory. "Only new home construction can genuinely help relieve the inventory shortage, and housing starts need to rise at least 50 percent from current levels," said Lawrence Yun NAR chief economist in a press release.
Pending sales is a "forward-looking indicator based on contract signings," as defined by NAR. We've already seen new home sales fell 4.6 percent in February, and existing home sales were up a modest 0.8 percent on the month in February. Tracking these figures on three and six-month averages gives us a better picture of the housing market.