Home contract activity jumps for third straight month as consumers shrug off higher rates
Home contract signings rose in October for the third consecutive month as homebuyers took advantage of growing inventory levels and shook off higher mortgage rates.

The Pending Home Sales index, which measures signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos, and co-ops, rose 2% to 77.4 from a month earlier. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

Activity rose in all parts of the country, led by the Northeast, which saw a 4.7% month-over-month gain. Contract signings in the Midwest rose 4%, while gains in the South and West were smaller.
“Homebuying momentum is building after nearly two years of suppressed home sales,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, said in a statement. “Even with mortgage rates modestly rising … continuous job additions and more housing inventory are bringing more consumers to the market.”

Compared to a year earlier, contract activity rose 5.4% nationwide.
There are other signs that the housing market is revving up headed into year-end. Mortgage applications to purchase a home jumped 12% through Friday compared to a week earlier, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The uptick in contract activity for existing homes stands in contrast to new homes sales, which dropped last month, according to data released on Tuesday.

Some of that sales decline is likely explained by Hurricane Helene, which caused devastating flooding along Florida’s west coast and in western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, and southwest Virginia in late September, and Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in west central Florida less than two weeks later.