by Calculated Risk on 5/25/2023 10:03:00 AM

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Recorded No Change in April

Pending home sales recorded no change in April, according to the National Association of REALTORS®. Three U.S. regions posted monthly gains, while the Northeast decreased. All four regions saw year-over-year declines in transactions.

The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI)* – a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings – remained at 78.9 in April, posting no change from the previous month. Year over year, pending transactions dropped by 20.3%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

"Not all buying interests are being completed due to limited inventory," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Affordability challenges certainly remain and continue to hold back contract signings, but a sizeable increase in housing inventory will be critical to get more Americans moving."
...
The Northeast PHSI dropped 11.3% from last month to 59.1, a decrease of 21.8% from April 2022. The Midwest index improved 3.6% to 78.4 in April, down 21.4% from one year ago.

The South PHSI increased 0.1% to 99.6 in April, sinking 16.7% from the prior year. The West index augmented 4.7% in April to 62.2, sliding 26.0% from April 2022.
emphasis added

This is way below expectations of a 0.5% increase for this index. Note: Contract signings usually lead sales by about 45 to 60 days, so this would usually be for closed sales in May and June.