The December pending home sales report showed an increase of 8.3% according to a report from the National Association of Realtors. However, the gains in home transactions varied by region, with the Northeast seeing a drop in transactions.
Yahoo Finance's Dani Romero breaks down the details.
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Editor's note: This article was written by Angel Smith
Video Transcript
BRAD SMITH: Pending home sales rising 8.3% in December, according to the National Association of Realtors. The Northeast saw a drop in transactions from last year, where the West, South, and Midwest all recorded gains.
SEANA SMITH: And certainly, Brad, when you take a look at that, I guess it's a bit of good news here for the homebuilders. The fact that we are seeing this level rise to the highest that we've seen in just about five months. You mentioned the regional breakdown there just a bit. Northeast is still falling, though, on a month over month basis, just about 3% in the month of November.
We did, though, see the biggest pickup in the West, which was up just about 14% on a month over month basis. So again, all things said, yes, this is a bit encouraging And maybe is a signal here that the housing market is starting to thaw just a little bit, as we do see more of a movement to the downside here overall in mortgage rates.
BRAD SMITH: Yeah, I'm taking a look at the annual median home price as well. It's expected to rise, actually, 1.4% to $395,100 in 2024, and then increase 2.6% to above $400,000 in 2025. So that-- some of the year over year to track up against one of the quotes here from Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors chief economist-- housing market off to a good start this year. Consumers benefiting from falling mortgage rates and stable home prices here.
But job additions, income growth further going to help with housing affordability, but increased supply going to be essential to satisfying all potential demand here. And so that just to round out what we're seeing overall with some of the home sales and the housing market right now.
