US Pending Home Sales Index Slides to Lowest Level Since 2020

  • NAR index of contract signings declined 7.1% in August to 71.8
  • Sales dropped in all regions; West posted weakest reading ever

Homes in Irvine, California.

Photographer: Bing Guan/Bloomberg
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A gauge of pending US previously owned home sales fell in August to the lowest level since April 2020, evidence of a resale market throttled by higher mortgage rates.

The National Association of Realtors’ index of contract signings tumbled 7.1% to 71.8 from July, the group reported Thursday. The decline was larger than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists.