Pending home sales hit series low after 7.3% September drop

The National Association of Realtors said its pending-home-sales index fell 7.3% in September to 66.0, the lowest reading since the series began in 2001, as signed contracts for existing homes declined across the United States. The index measures contracts to purchase previously owned homes, not completed sales. September’s fall was steeper than economists had expected in a Reuters survey, which projected a 0.5% decline. Pending contracts typically precede completed purchases by one or two months. The association said pending sales were down 11.3% from a year earlier and fell in all four U.S. regions. The West recorded the largest monthly drop, at 9.2%, according to regional figures. A separate account put the year-over-year decline at nearly 13% using data not adjusted for seasonal variations; the National Association of Realtors’ reported figure was 11.3%. Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, attributed September’s weaker market conditions to rapidly rising mortgage rates. Freddie Mac’s weekly survey put the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 7.40% for the week ending October 15, up from 6.71% on September 3. The survey average does not necessarily reflect...