When an offer to buy a home is accepted and a contract has been signed, the closing process begins. But until the transaction is officially closed several weeks later, the home’s sale is considered pending. The vast majority of pending sales become final sales, which is why contract signings are considered a good indicator of future home sales numbers. That’s also the reason the National Association of Realtors tracks contract signings each month with its Pending Home Sales Index. According to the most recent results, contract signings were relatively flat in June, falling 0.8 percent from the month before. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, says improvement may be on the way. “The Realtors Confidence Index shows early indications of potential contract signings increasing moving forward,” Yun said. “Realtors are optimistic that home buying and selling activity will increase.” In June, only the Northeast saw month-over-month gains, while the West, South, and Midwest all saw declines. (source)
