Persistent Inflation Hammered Pending Home Sales in September, Falling 10%

Persistent Inflation Hammered Pending Home Sales in September, Falling 10%

Inflation and the resulting increase in interest rates continued to dent home sales activity into the fall. The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) said on Friday that its Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) which tracks purchase contracts for existing homes, dropped by another 10.2 percent in Septembe r, the fourth straight month that the index has declined. The month’s reading, 79.5, is 31.0 percent below its level in September 2021. [pendinghomesdata] The index was benchmarked at 100 in 2001. It is considered a leading indicators of existing home sales over the following one or two months. “Persistent inflation has proven quite harmful to the housing market ,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The Federal Reserve has had to drastically raise interest rates to quell inf