June Pending Home Sales Dip Slightly Following May's Record High

Washington, DC, July 30, 2015—After five consecutive months of increases, pending home sales slipped 1.8% in June to 110.3 but remained near May's level, which was the highest in over nine years, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Modest gains in the Northeast and West were offset by larger declines in the Midwest and South.

June’s Pending Home Sales Index was still 8.2% above June 2014 (101.9). Despite last month's decline, the index is the third highest reading of 2015 and has now increased year-over-year for ten consecutive months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says although pending sales decreased in June, the overall trend in recent months supports a solid pace of home sales this summer. "Competition for existing houses on the market remained stiff last month, as low inventories in many markets reduced choices and pushed prices above some buyers' comfort level," he said. "The demand is there for more sales, but the determining factor will be whether or not some of these buyers decide to hold off even longer until supply improves and price growth slows."

According to Yun, existing-home sales are up considerably compared to a year ago despite the share of first-time buyers only modestly improving. The reason is that the boost in sales is mostly coming from pent-up sellers realizing their equity gains from recent years.