WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday showed a modest rebound in pending home sales in the month of August.
NAR said pending home sales index rose by 0.3 percent to 71.2 in August after tumbling by 2.6 percent to a revised 71.0 in July.
Economists had expected pending home sales to climb by 0.5 percent compared to the 2.3 percent plunge originally reported for the previous month.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
The pending home sales regained ground after hitting a six-month low in July but remains down by 4.7 percent compared to August 2025.
'Buyers steadily entered into contracts in August even though mortgage rates increased,' said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. 'However, the housing market is still sluggish, with contract signings below last year.'
He added, 'This is due to higher mortgage rates offsetting the increased buying power created by job gains and income growth outpacing home price growth.'
The modest monthly rebound came as pending home sales in the West surged by 3.0 percent and pending home sales in the South jumped by 2.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the report said pending home sales in the Northeast plunged by 4.2 percent and pending home sales in the Midwest slumped by 1.6 percent.
'The Northeast and the Midwest saw the fastest home price growth in August, which is part of the reason that those same two regions posted the steepest declines in contract signings,' Yun said.
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