Bloomberg
Pending sales of previously-owned homes in the US recovered last month after declining at the start of the year, adding to evidence that the housing market is gradually improving.
An index of contract signings from the National Association of Realtors® increased 1.6% to 75.6. The median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg saw the reading rise by 1.5%.
“While modest sales growth might not stir excitement, it shows slow and steady progress from the lows of late last year,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement on Thursday.
The Midwest was the main driver of the increase in pending sales, with a 10.6% jump. Contract signings in the South, the nation’s biggest housing market, edged up 1.1%. They were little changed in the Northeast and dropped in the West.
“The high-cost regions in the Northeast and West experienced pullbacks due to affordability challenges,” Yun said.
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