Washington, D.C., Oct. 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pending home sales in September decreased by 7.3% month-over-month and 11.3% year-over-year, according to the National Association of REALTORS® Pending Home Sales report. The report helps the real estate ecosystem—including agents, homebuyers and sellers—better understand the housing market by providing data on the level of home sales under contract.
Month-over-month pending home sales declined in all four major U.S. regions. The West had the largest decrease, followed by the South, Midwest and Northeast. Year-over-year pending home sales also declined in all four regions.
“Market conditions weakened in September due to fast-rising mortgage rates,” said NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “Although job growth and income gains can support home purchases, housing affordability is more affected by changes in mortgage rates.”
“Given that mortgage rates have already risen much more than the Federal Reserve’s short-term interest rate hikes, mortgage rates could be topping out,” Yun said. “However, increasing energy prices and the resulting inflationary pressure are highly uncertain.”
“Despite the difficulty of obtaining a mortgage, the limited number of distressed properties is ensuring steady home prices,” Yun added. “Buyers and sellers may simply be holding back until mortgage rates move favorably.”
September 2026 National Pending Home Sales
- 7.3% decrease month-over-month
- 11.3% decrease year-over-year
September 2026 Regional Pending Home Sales
Northeast
- 4.2% decrease month-over-month
- 9.4% decrease year-over-year
Midwest
- 6.5% decrease month-over-month
- 8.7% decrease year-over-year
South
- 8.2% decrease month-over-month
- 12.0% decrease year-over-year
West
- 9.2% decrease month-over-month
- 15.0% decrease year-over-year
At the local level, pending home sales fell year-over-year even in the strongest markets. Among the 50 largest metro areas, the following 10 markets posted the smallest annual declines in pending home sales, according to data from Realtor.com® Economics:
- Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN (-2.0%)
- Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT (-2.1%)
- San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (-3.5%)
- San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (-4.6%)
- Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY (-5.6%)
- Richmond, VA (-5.8%)
- Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX (-5.9%)
- Pittsburgh, PA (-6.2%)
- Memphis, TN-MS-AR (-6.3%)
- San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX (-7.1%)
About the National Association of REALTORS®
The National Association of REALTORS® is involved in all aspects of residential and commercial real estate. The term REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies a real estate professional who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. For free consumer guides about navigating the homebuying and selling transaction processes—from written buyer agreements to negotiating compensation—visit facts.realtor.
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*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.
Pending contracts are good early indicators of upcoming sales closings. However, the amount of time between pending contracts and completed sales is not identical for all home sales. Variations in the length of the process from pending contract to closed sale can be caused by issues such as buyer difficulties with obtaining mortgage financing, home inspection problems, or appraisal issues.
The index is based on a sample that covers about 40% of multiple listing service data each month. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population.
Information about NAR is available at nar.realtor. This and other news releases are posted in the newsroom at nar.realtor/newsroom. Statistical data in this release, as well as other tables and surveys, are posted in the “Research and Statistics” tab.
