Pending home sales managed to eke out another gain and would have been even stronger if not for supply constraints.
July saw the Pending Home Sales Index come in at 110.9. The index is based on the signing of home sales contracts.
That was slightly higher than the 110.4 level reached a month earlier. June’s index was originally reported at
110.3.
The National Association of Realtors, which announced the index Thursday, noted that it has risen six out of the last seven months.
The index stood at
103.3 a year earlier. The July 2014 index was originally reported at 105.9.
The trade group said that there have now been 11 consecutive year-over-year improvements in the index.
Despite the strengthening real estate market, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun explained in the report that
affordable listings are scarce among some buyers — preventing more robust activity.
Yun expects continued inventory shortages through at least the fall.
“Overall, the prospects for ongoing strength in the housing market remain intact for now,” Yun said. “The U.S. economy is growing — albeit at a modest pace — and the labor market continues to add jobs.”
Helping to support the slight month-over-month gain were pending home sales in the Northeast, with the index in that region rising 4.0 percent from June to 98.8.
The South saw an 0.6 percent increase in the index from June to 124.2.
No change for the index in the Midwest left it at 107.8 last month.
The only region to suffer a setback was the West, where the index dropped 1.4 percent to 103.0 in July.
For all of 2015, Yun predicts that the national median existing home price will rise 6.3 percent from last year to $221,400.
