Pending Home Sales Falter to 12-Month Low

Pending home sales faltered in January to a 12-month low, despite a simultaneous shoot-up in existing-home sales, according to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) declined 2.8 percent to 106.4, with the PHSI sinking in the Midwest, 5.0 percent to 99.5, and in the West, 9.8 percent to 94.6.“The significant shortage of listings last month, along with deteriorating affordability as the result of higher home prices and mortgage rates, ke