Pending home sales in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday, with gains in the Northeast and Midwest largely offset by declines in the West and South.
NAR said its pending home sales index edged up by 0.3 percent to 106.0 in April after jumping by 1.5 percent to 105.7 in March. Economists had been expecting the index to increase by about 1.4 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
Despite the much weaker than expected increase, the pending home sales index still reached its highest level since hitting 110.9 in April of 2010, just before the deadline for the homebuyer tax credit.
For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com
Economic News
What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.