U.S. Pending Home Sales Show Notable Rebound In November

(RTTNews) - A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday showed pending home sales in the U.S. rebounded in the month of November.

NAR said its pending home sales index jumped 1.2 percent to 108.5 in November after falling by a revised 1.3 percent in October. Economists had expected pending home sales to surge up by 1.1 percent.

A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.

"Despite the insufficient level of inventory, pending home contracts still increased in November," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.

He added, "The favorable conditions are expected throughout 2020 as well, but supply is not yet meeting the healthy demand."

The report said pending home sales in the West spiked by 5.5 percent, while pending home sales in the Midwest climbed by 1.0 percent.

On the other hand, pending home sales in the Northeast and South edged down by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.