U.S. Pending Home Sales Edge Up 0.3% in August but Remain 4.7% Below Last Year

U.S. pending home sales edged up 0.3% in August from the previous month, but contract activity remained 4.7% below its level a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. The small monthly gain followed a 2.3% drop in July and left the market well short of a broad recovery.

The regional picture was uneven. Pending sales rose in the South and West from July, while the Northeast and Midwest declined. On a year-over-year basis, every major region posted a decrease, showing that the modest national improvement did not reverse the broader weakness in contract signings.

South and West gains offset declines elsewhere

NAR’s August Pending Home Sales report showed the South up 2.3% month over month and the West up 3.0%. The Northeast fell 4.2% and the Midwest declined 1.6%. Those monthly differences produced only a slight national increase because the two stronger regions were offset by declines in the other half of the country.

Compared with August 2025, the West posted the largest regional drop at 6.7%. The Midwest was down 4.9%, the Northeast fell 3.9%, and the South declined 3.8%. The nationwide 4.7% annual decrease was therefore not concentrated in a single part of the country.

NAR also pointed to price pressure as part of the regional split. Yun said the Northeast and Midwest recorded the fastest home-price growth in August, which he cited as one reason those regions also had the steepest monthly declines in contract signings. The comparison highlights how affordability depends on both financing costs and the price of the home being financed.

The August reading came after July pending sales fell 2.3% from June and 2.2% from a year earlier. NAR said July was the lowest level since January 2026. August recovered only a small portion of that monthly decline, while the year-over-year comparison deteriorated.

Pending sales measure signed contracts for existing single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops rather than completed closings. NAR describes the index as a leading indicator because a home normally goes under contract before the sale is completed, so the measure tends to lead existing-home sales by roughly one or two months.

Mortgage rates remain a constraint on buyers

Borrowing costs stayed elevated through the month. Freddie Mac’s Primary Mortgage Market Survey archive shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate at 6.69% on August 6, 6.67% on August 13, 6.65% on August 20 and 6.66% on August 27. Those readings were above most of July’s weekly levels, when the rate ranged from 6.43% to 6.66%.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said buyers continued entering contracts despite the increase in mortgage rates, but he described the overall market as sluggish. In NAR’s assessment, higher borrowing costs are offsetting some of the buying power created by job gains and household income growth that has been running ahead of home-price growth.

The latest completed-sales figures point to similar pressure. Existing-home sales fell 2.0% in August to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.98 million and were 1.2% below a year earlier, according to NAR’s separate August sales report. Unsold inventory increased 3.2% from July to 1.62 million homes, equal to 4.9 months of supply, while the median existing-home price rose 1.6% from a year earlier to $429,100.

That mix of softer sales, more homes on the market and a higher median price shows why the housing picture remains mixed. Buyers have more listings to choose from than they did a month earlier, yet the national price measure was still rising from last year and financing remained expensive. The result is a market with more choice but no clear nationwide surge in demand.

More available inventory can give buyers additional choice and negotiating room, but it does not remove the financing hurdle created by mortgage rates near the upper end of their 2026 range. A buyer’s monthly payment can change materially when rates move even if the home price is unchanged, which helps explain why improving supply has not translated into a stronger rebound in contract volume.

Contract activity remains far below pre-pandemic norms

NAR said national contract signings are running roughly 30% below the years leading up to the pandemic. That comparison puts the 0.3% August gain in perspective: the latest increase is a stabilization signal after July’s decline, not evidence that pending sales have returned to the pace seen before the sharp rise in mortgage rates that followed the pandemic-era lows.

Local markets are also moving differently from the national average. NAR reported that several of the 50 largest metropolitan areas still posted year-over-year gains in pending sales, led by Richmond, Virginia, at 11.3%. San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas, rose 6.6%, and Memphis, Tennessee-Mississippi-Arkansas, increased 6.4%. Those gains show that local supply, prices and economic conditions can diverge considerably even when the national index is down from a year earlier.

The near-term question is whether the August improvement can persist if mortgage rates remain elevated. Pending sales are especially useful for that question because signed contracts typically appear before completed sales in the housing data, giving an earlier view of demand than existing-home closings alone.

NAR is scheduled to release September 2026 pending home sales on October 20. That report will show whether August marked the start of a steadier period for contract signings or only a brief pause in a market that remains materially weaker than a year ago.