by Calculated Risk on 7/29/2020 10:03:00 AM

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Mount 16.6% Increase in June

Pending home sales continued to ascend in June, sustaining two consecutive months of increases in contract activity, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Each of the four major regions experienced growth in month-over-month pending home sales transactions, while the Northeast was the only region to not record increases in year-over-year pending transactions.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings, rose 16.6% to 116.1 in June. Year-over-year, contract signings rose 6.3%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.
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The Northeast PHSI grew 54.4% to 95.4 in June, but was still down 0.9% from a year ago. In the Midwest, the index rose 12.2% to 110.9 last month, up 5.1% from June 2019.

Pending home sales in the South increased 11.9% to an index of 140.3 in June, up 10.3% from June 2019. The index in the West jumped 11.7% in June to 99.6, up 4.7% from a year ago.
emphasis added

This was slightly above expectations for this index. Note: Contract signings usually lead sales by about 45 to 60 days, so this would usually be for closed sales in July and August.