After reporting a sharp increase in pending home sales in the U.S. in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Wednesday showing pending home sales pulled back by far more than expected in the month of December.
NAR said its pending home sales plummeted by 9.3 percent to 71.8 in December after surging by 3.3 percent to 79.2 in November.
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 sharp pullback by pending home sales reflected weakness in all four regions of the country, with pending home sales in the Midwest, West and Northeast showing particularly steep drops.
Pending home sales in the Midwest and West plunged by 14.9 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, while pending home sales in the Northeast tumbled by 11.0 percent.
NAR said pending home sales in the South also slumped by 4.0 percent in December but were up by 2.0 percent year-over-year.