- Posted January 02, 2019
- Tweet This | Share on Facebook
Pending home sales slipped 0.7 percent in November
By Paul Wiseman
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Fewer Americans signed contracts to buy homes in November as higher mortgage rates and prices continued to squeeze would-be buyers out of the market.
The National Association of Realtors said last Friday that its pending home sales index dipped 0.7 percent last month to 101.4. The index based on contract signings has dropped 7.7 percent over the past year and has recorded 11 straight year-over-year decreases.
The rate on benchmark 30-year, fixed rate mortgages was 4.55 percent last week, down from 4.62 percent the week prior but up from 3.99 percent a year ago.
"The latest decline in contract signings implies more short-term pullback in the housing sector," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.
All four U.S. regions have reported annual drops in pending home sales: The West is down 12.2 percent, the South 7.4 percent, the Midwest 7 percent and the Northeast 3.5 percent. From October to November, sales rose 2.8 percent in the West and 2.7 percent in the Northeast but fell 2.7 percent in the South and 2.3 percent in the Midwest.
Pending sales are a barometer of home purchases that are completed a month or two later. So the November index suggests that sales will possibly decline through January.
Published: Wed, Jan 02, 2019
headlines Oakland County
- Bench/Bar Conference
- Whitmer signs bipartisan bills to support the education and safety of Michigan Children, other legislation
- Attorney general decries latest DTE electric rate hike request
- Federal judges approve redraw of Detroit-area state House seats ahead of 2024 election
- Local moot court team impresses at ABA National Advocacy Competition
headlines National
- 50 Years of Service: ABA has been a ‘stalwart ally’ for LSC funding
- ACLU and BigLaw firm use ‘Orange is the New Black’ in hashtag effort to promote NY jail reform
- Biden recalls time he bluffed knowledge of torts case and why he changed his mind about civil-trial work
- Lawyers’ ‘barrage of personal attacks’ on opponents started with tissue-box toss, appeals court says
- Longtime prosecutor resigns after judge tosses him from case, citing Perry Mason-type revelations
- 24% of law students expect to work in public service, survey says