Financial News: U.S. Pending Home Sales Jump More Than Expected

U.S. Pending Home Sales Jump More Than Expected In April

05/19/2026 - 10:34:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - The National Association of Realtors released a report on Tuesday showing pending home sales in the U.S. jumped by more than expected in the month of April.

NAR said its pending home sales index shot up by 1.4 percent to 74.8 in April after surging by 1.7 percent to an upwardly revised 73.8 in March.

Economists had expected pending home sales to increase by 0.9 percent compared to the 1.5 percent leap originally reported for the previous month.

With the bigger than expected advance, the pending home sales index reached its highest level since hitting 77.2 last November.

"Buyers are coming out with cautious optimism despite increasing economic uncertainty and a slight rise in mortgage rates," said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun.

He added, "Demand will easily be even higher once mortgage rates retreat to the levels they were at earlier this year."

The bigger than expected jump by pending home sales partly reflected continued strength in the Midwest, where pending home sales surged by 3.0 percent.

Pending home sales in the Northeast also spiked by 6.6 percent, while pending home sales in the West rose by 0.4 percent and pending home sales in the South slid by 0.7 percent.

On Monday, the National Association of Home Builders released a separate report showing an unexpected improvement in homebuilder confidence in the month of May.

The report said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index climbed to 37 in May after slumping to a seven-month low of 34 in April. Economists had expected the index to remain unchanged.

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