The housing market’s long rough stretch dragged into October, according to new data, with pending sales falling relative to one year earlier.
The data comes from the National Association of Realtors and shows that, nationally, pending sales fell 0.4 percent year over year last month. Compared to one month earlier, pending sales in October rose 1.9 percent.
TAKE THE INMAN INTEL SURVEY FOR NOVEMBER
NAR’s data further shows that the West suffered the most, while the Midwest pulled ahead of other regions. Here’s NAR’s regional breakdown:
Northeast
- 2.3 percent increase month over month
- 1.0 percent decrease year over year
Midwest
- 5.3 percent increase month over month
- 0.9 percent increase year over year
South
- 1.4 percent increase month over month
- 2.0 percent increase year over year
West
- 1.5 percent decrease month over month
- 7.0 percent decrease year over year
In the report, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said the Midwest “shined above other regions due to better affordability, while contract signings retreated in the more expensive West region.” He also suggested that buyers have gained some power in the market.
“Days on the market typically lengthen from November through February, providing better negotiating power to buyers during the holiday season,” Yun explained.
Meanwhile, Bright MLS Chief Economist Dr. Lisa Sturtevant — responding to NAR’s new data — said in a statement that October’s slowness was likely to persist.
“While lower rates have brought out more buyers this fall, there are still major constraints in the housing market, and home sales activity is likely to be slow through the end of 2025,” Sturtevant said. “Rates, which had dropped to a 13-month low, have started to rise again. A lack of October labor market data has created uncertainty about the strength of the economy. There are pockets of weakness in consumer spending heading into the holidays.”
However, both Yun and Sturtevant did offer at least somewhat optimistic takes as well. In Yun’s case, he said September job gains “are reassuring and suggest the economy is not slipping into a recession.”
And Sturtevant said in her statement that “the fundamentals of the U.S. housing market are still strong.”
“But affordability challenges are going to characterize the housing market for years,” she added. “Lower mortgage rates will help bring out more buyers next year, but it is going to take time before there is better affordability in the market.”
