The MReport Webcast: Tuesday 9/30/2014

As existing-home sales dipped in August, so too did contract signings, according to an industry measure. The National Association of Realtors reported a 1 percent decline in its Pending Home Sales Index for August. The drop brings the index down to 104-point-7, its second highest reading so far this year. Even with the decrease, the index remained above 100—considered an average level of activity—for the fourth straight month. NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said August’s decline in both closed and pending sales reflects declining distressed sales and investor activity.

Contract signings slowed down in three of the four Census regions, picking up only in the West, which saw its regional index increase 2-point-6 percent. In the other regions: Pending sales were down 3 percent month-over-month in the Northeast, 2-point-1 percent in the Midwest, and 1-point-4 percent in the South. Given activity so far this year, the association predicts existing-home sales all around the country will come to 4-point-94 million in 2014, a decline of 3 percent from last year.

Refinance activity remained more or less level from June to July, though interest in the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program continued to dwindle, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In a recent release, the agency reported a combined total of 120 thousand refinances were completed at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in July, slightly down from the figure reported for June. At the same time, HARP refinancing kept on a downward trend, falling to a share of about 13 percent of all refinances done at the GSEs compared to 15 percent in June. The falloff in HARP refinancing continues even as the government makes efforts to revitalize the program, including extending its deadline and hosting borrower education events.