The numbers: Pending-home sales fell 1.5% to a record-low reading of 71.4 in October, according to the monthly index released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). This is the lowest level since the index was started in 2001.
Economists were expecting pending home sales to fall 2% in October, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal.
Key details: Over the past year, pending transactions were down 8.5%.
On a regional basis, sales rose in the Northeast but declined in the Midwest, South and West.
Big picture: Mortgage rates soared in October, causing activity to freeze. There has been a thaw in November amid growing expectations the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates.
What the NAR said: “Recent weeks’ successive declines in mortgage rates will help qualify more home buyers, but limited housing inventory is significantly preventing housing demand from fully being satisfied,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.
Market reaction: Stocks
DJIA
SPX
opened higher on Thursday while the 10-year Treasury yield
BX:TMUBMUSD10Y
rose to 4.34% in early morning trading.
