September Marks a Turning Point for Housing Demand: Pending Sales Stabilize, Home Tours Surge
September brought some welcome news for the real estate market: pending home sales held steady for the first time in nine months, signaling a potential turning point for demand. As mortgage rates continue to decline, other key indicators like home tours and mortgage-rate locks are also showing improvement. Pending Sales Stabilize After Months of Declines For the four weeks ending September 29, pending home sales were flat compared to a year ago. This is the first time since January that sales didn’t decline year-over-year, a positive sign for the market. Sales are picking up in many major metros, with cities like Phoenix seeing a 13% increase, followed by San Jose and Portland with 12% and 10% gains, respectively. Although pending sales haven’t returned to pre-pandemic levels, this improvement hints at a growing interest in homebuying. However, not all regions are experiencing this uptick. Florida, in particular, continues to see a decline in pending sales due to factors like cli...