The nation’s housing market is on the outer range of its historical benchmark of housing activity while individual markets continue to slowly grind toward their historical benchmarks, according to Freddie Mac’s April 2016 Multi-Indicator Market Index released Wednesday. The national index, which measures the health of the housing nationwide, had a value for April was 84 point 1, which is on the outer range of stable.
April’s value of 84 point 1 was 42 percent higher than its all-time low but still significantly lower than the national index’s all-time high of 121 point 7. Two additional metros—Charlotte, North Carolina, and Knoxville, Tennessee—entered their benchmark ranges in April, according to Freddie Mac. Out of the 100 metros tracked by the national index, 99 of them experienced year-over-year gains. The only one that did not was Tulsa, Oklahoma, which posted no change.
After steadily increasing for three straight months, pending home sales let up in May across all four major regions, and declined year-over-year for the first time in almost two years, according to the National Association of Realtors. Based on contract signings, the NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index dropped to 110 point 8 in May from a 115 in April and was just shy of May 2015’s index of 111. It was the first time the index decreased year-over-year since August of 2014.