Pending home sales in the U.S. unexpectedly decreased in the month of June, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.
NAR said its pending home sales index slid by 0.8 percent to 72.0 in June after jumping by 1.8 percent to 72.6 in May.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
The unexpected pullback by pending home sales partly reflected weakness in the West, where pending home sales plunged by 3.9 percent.
Pending home sales in the Midwest and South also decreased by 0.8 percent and 0.7 percent, respectively, while pending home sales in the Northeast surged by 2.1 percent.