Contract signings declined 9.8 percent year-over-year in December marking the twelfth straight month of annual decreases, according to a report on pending home sales by the National Association of Realtors [1] (NAR). Pending home sales also saw a month over month decrease of 2.2 percent from November 2018, the report [2] indicated.
While many factors were responsible for the decline in contract signings in December, the partial government shutdown was not one of them, according to Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR. “Seventy-five percent of Realtors® reported that they haven’t yet felt the impact of the government closure. However, if another government shutdown takes place, it will lead to fewer homes sold,” Yun said. He added that as the government reopens more mortgage options would become available for consumers.
Watch this video to see what other factors impacted pending home sales in December: