U.S. pending home sales rise less than expected in March

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Thursday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index (PHSI) rose 1.9 percent m-o-m to 111.3 in March, after a revised 11.5 percent m-o-m plunge in February (originally a 10.6 percent m-o-m tumble).

Economists had expected pending home sales to increase 5.0 percent m-o-m in March.

On y-o-y basis, the index surged 23.3 percent after an unrevised 0.5 percent drop in February. This was the biggest gain since August 2020.

According to the report, three of the four regional indices recorded month-over-month gains in March, and each index saw year-over-year growth. The Northeast PHSI rose 6.1 percent m-o-m to 97.9 in March, a 16.7 percent advance from a year ago. Pending home sales transactions in the South increased 2.9 percent m-o-m to an index of 137.2 in March, up 27.9 percent from March 2020. The index in the West grew 2.9 percent m-o-m in March to 94.5, up 29.8 percent from a year prior. Meanwhile, the PHSI for the Midwest declined 3.7 percent m-o-m to 98.6 last month, up 14.1 percent from March 2020.

"The increase in pending sales transactions for the month of March is indicative of high housing demand," noted Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "With mortgage rates still very close to record lows and a solid job recovery underway, demand will likely remain high."