But upward pressure on already crazy home prices persists.
Pending home sales in California fell 6% in September compared to a year ago, the third month in a row of year-over-year declines, after having dropped 3.5% in August and 2.6% in July.
‘Entering the fall home-buying season, the housing market momentum waned,’ the California Association of Realtors said in its report. Brokers ‘reported slower open house traffic, and listing appointments and client presentations fell below positive territory in September.’
The report cited ‘continued housing inventory issues and affordability constraints,’ as home prices have moved out of reach for many people, despite historically low mortgage rates. This ‘may have pushed the market to a tipping point.’
Pending home sales are an indication of what actual sales might look like over the next few months. They’re notoriously volatile. But in the San Francisco Bay Area, pending homes sales have been plunging in the double digits for months. And now Southern California is catching the cold.
This post was published at Wolf Street on Oct 25, 2017.
Follow on Twitter
Recent Comments