On September 26, 2024, at 10:31 AM ET, Liz Kiesche, a news editor at Seeking Alpha, reported that the U.S. Pending Home Sales Index for August showed a 0.6% increase, reaching 70.6. This was slightly below the expected rise of 0.9% but marked an improvement from the 5.5% decline recorded in July. However, on a year-over-year basis, pending transactions decreased by 3.0%.
The slight increase in the index indicates a modest improvement in housing affordability, mainly attributed to mortgage rates dropping to 6.5% in August, as noted by the National Association of Realtors.