US Pending Home Sales Hover Near Record Lows After June Gloom

The choppy performance of the US housing market continued in June with pending home sales falling 0.8% MoM (considerably worse than the 0.2% MoM rise expected).

Source: Bloomberg

That left YoY sales down 0.3% – the seventh straight monthly decline in annual growth – leaving the total pending home sales index back near record lows…

Source: Bloomberg

The supply of existing homes for sale has reached an almost five-year high, as more people list their homes for sale, but the extra inventory isn’t yet pushing prices down.

Source: Bloomberg

Mortgage applications to buy a home dropped 5% last week and are down for the last five weeks… so don’t hold your breath for any material improvement any time soon.

The Northeast was the only region to see a rise (+2.1% MoM) in pending home sales with sales in The West dropping the most (-3.9% MoM).

Pending-homes sales tend to be a leading indicator for previously owned homes, as houses typically go under contract a month or two before they’re sold.