U.S. pending home sales unexpectedly increase in February

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Monday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index (PHSI) rose 2.4 percent m-o-m to 111.5 in February, after a revised 5.3 percent m-o-m climb in January (originally a 5.2 percent m-o-m gain).

Economists had expected pending home sales to decrease 0.3 percent m-o-m in February.

On y-o-y basis, the index surged 9.4 percent after a 5.7 percent jump in January. That represented the highest pace in exactly three years.

According to the report, all regional indices recorded m-o-m gains in February. The Northeast PHSI rose 2.8 percent m-o-m to 96.3 in February, 5.9 percent higher than a year ago. In the Midwest, the index jumped 4.5 percent m-o-m to 110.1 last month, 14.9 percent higher than in February 2019. Pending home sales in the South edged up 0.1 percent m-o-m to an index of 129.2 in February, a 7.1 percent advance from February 2019. The PHSI in the West grew 4.6 percent m-o-m to 97.1, a surge of 10.8 percent from a year ago.

"February's pending sales figures show the housing market had been very healthy prior to the coronavirus-induced shutdown," noted Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. He also stressed that the data does not capture the significant fallout from the pandemic or the measures taken to control the outbreak. "Numbers in the coming weeks will show just how hard the housing market was hit, but I am optimistic that the upcoming stimulus package will lessen the economic damage and we may get a V-shaped robust recovery later in the year."