Home Sales To Start 2016

Existing-home sales crept up to the highest annual rate in six months, and low inventory caused the fastest increase in prices since last April.

Following the highest average year for the index in nearly a decade , pending home sales declined to begin 2016 but remained slightly higher than a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Only the South saw an uptick in contract activity in January.The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, declined 2.5 percent to 106.0 in January from an upwardly revised 108.7 in December but is still 1.4 percent above January 2015 (104.5). Although the index has increased year-over-year for 17 consecutive months, last month’s annual gain was the second smallest (September 2014 at 1.2 percent) during the timeframe.