A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday showed pending home sales in the U.S. shot up by much more than expected in the month of November.
NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 3.3 percent to 79.2 in November after surging by 2.4 percent to an upwardly revised 76.7 in October.
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 bigger than expected increase by pending home sales partly reflected strength in the West, where pending home sales soared by 9.2 percent.
Pending home sales in the South also shot up by 2.4 percent, while pending home sales in the Northeast and Midwest jumped by 1.8 percent and 1.3 percent, respectively.
NAR also said November's REALTORS Confidence Index survey showed 22 percent of NAR members expect an increase in buyer traffic over the next three months, up from 17 percent in October but down from 24 percent a year ago.
Meanwhile, 18 percent expect an increase in seller traffic, up from 16 percent last month but down from 22 percent in November 2024, NAR added.