Investing.com – Pending home sales in the U.S. fell unexpectedly in September, declining for the third consecutive month, industry data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell by 4.6% in September, after dropping by 1.2% in August.
Analysts had expected pending home sales to rise by 0.2% in September.
Year-over-year, U.S. pending home sales advanced at an annualized rate of 7.9%, falling short of expectations for a gain of 13.1%.
Commenting on the report NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said the housing market is being excessively constrained.
“A combination of weak consumer confidence and continuing tight lending criteria held back home buyers, even though the private sector added nearly 2 million net new jobs in the past 12 months,” he said.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD jumping 1.51% to trade at 1.4117.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets surged after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.95%, the S&P 500 index soared 2.25%, while the Nasdaq Composite index jumped 1.85%.
In a report, the National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index fell by 4.6% in September, after dropping by 1.2% in August.
Analysts had expected pending home sales to rise by 0.2% in September.
Year-over-year, U.S. pending home sales advanced at an annualized rate of 7.9%, falling short of expectations for a gain of 13.1%.
Commenting on the report NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said the housing market is being excessively constrained.
“A combination of weak consumer confidence and continuing tight lending criteria held back home buyers, even though the private sector added nearly 2 million net new jobs in the past 12 months,” he said.
Following the release of the data, the U.S. dollar remained sharply lower against the euro, with EUR/USD jumping 1.51% to trade at 1.4117.
Meanwhile, U.S. stock markets surged after the open. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 1.95%, the S&P 500 index soared 2.25%, while the Nasdaq Composite index jumped 1.85%.