U.S. pending home sales plunge 20.8 percent in March

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Wednesday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index (PHSI) tumbled 20.8 percent m-o-m to 88.2 in March, after a revised 2.3 percent m-o-m climb in February (originally a 2.4 percent m-o-m gain).

Economists had expected pending home sales to decrease 10 percent m-o-m in March.

On y-o-y basis, the index declined 16.3 percent after a 9.4 percent jump in February. That was the biggest annual drop since April 2011.

According to the report, all regional indices recorded m-o-m decreases in March. The Northeast PHSI dropped 14.5 percent m-o-m to 82.3 in March, 11.0 percent lower than a year ago. In the Midwest, the index slumped 22.0 percent m-o-m to 85.6 last month, down 12.4 percent from March 2019. Pending home sales in the South sank 19.5 percent m-o-m to an index of 103.7 in March, a 17.8 percent fall from March 2019. The index in the West plummeted 26.8 percent m-o-m in March 2020 to 71.4, down 21.5 percent from a year ago.

"The housing market is temporarily grappling with the coronavirus-induced shutdown, which pulled down new listings and new contracts," noted Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "As consumers become more accustomed to social distancing protocols, and with the economy slowly and safely reopening, listings and buying activity will resume, especially given the record low mortgage rates."