US: Pending home sales decline by 1.8% in August vs 0.4% expected

According to the monthly report released by the National Association of Realtors, pending home sales contracted by 1.8% on a monthly basis in August following July's 0.8% (revised from 0.7%) decline and fell short of the market expectation for a 0.4% drop.

Commenting on the report, “pending home sales continued a slow drip downward, with the fourth month over month decline in the past five months,” Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said in the NAR's press release and added: “Contract signings also fell backward again last month, as declines in the West negatively impacted overall activity,” he said. “The greatest decline occurred in the West region where prices have shot up significantly, which clearly indicates that affordability is hindering buyers and those affordability issues come from lack of inventory, particularly in moderate price points.”