Pending Home Sales rose 0.3% from May to June, beating estimates and marking the first increase since February. While sales were down almost 16% from a year earlier, this correlates to the lack of inventory, which is about 14% lower over the same period.  Pending Home Sales is a critical report for taking the pulse of the housing market. The data is considered a forward-looking indicator of home sales because it measures signed contracts on existing homes, which represent around 90% of the market.

What’s the bottom line? Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), explained, “The presence of multiple offers implies that housing demand is not being satisfied due to lack of supply. Homebuilders are ramping up production and hiring workers.” Quite simply, if there were more homes listed for sale, we’d have a much higher rate of signed contracts.