Pending Home Sales Tick Up 0.3% in August — But Still 4.7% Below Last Year

Home contract signings edged up in August, rising 0.3% from July — but they were still down 4.7% from a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales report released Sept. 17. The West region led the monthly gain with a 3.0% increase in signings, per coverage by Inman.

"Buyers steadily entered into contracts in August even though mortgage rates increased," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a statement. "However, the housing market is still sluggish, with contract signings below last year. This is due to higher mortgage rates offsetting the increased buying power created by job gains and income growth outpacing home price growth."

Regionally, month-over-month signings rose in the South (2.3%) and West (3.0%) but fell in the Northeast (-4.2%) and Midwest (-1.6%). Year over year, pending sales declined in all four regions. Yun tied the Northeast and Midwest's steeper annual declines to those regions posting the fastest home price growth in August.

The bigger picture is sobering: "Nationally, contract signings today are running roughly 30% below where they were in the years leading up to the pandemic," Yun said. Activity peaked in 2021, when mortgage rates sat near 3%, and it hasn't approached that level since.

For the South Bay, the West's 3.0% monthly bump is the piece that matters — a small sign that buyers kept writing offers through rising rates. But the year-over-year gap is a reminder that this market is still moving on terms, not volume: less competition, but nobody should expect it to get much busier soon.

Source: Inman — https://www.inman.com/2026/09/17/pending-home-sales-august-2026/

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