Overview
- Pending home sales rose 1.9% from September, topping economists’ 0.5% forecast after an upwardly revised 0.1% prior gain.
- Activity remained 0.4% below a year earlier, underscoring a still-soft market backdrop.
- Contracts increased in the Northeast, Midwest and South, led by a 5.3% jump in the Midwest, and declined in the West.
- Borrowing costs eased after the Fed resumed rate cuts, but the slide in mortgage rates has paused as officials downplay a December cut, even as New York Fed President John Williams says rates could fall "in the near term."
- Demand faces headwinds from a softer labor market, with unemployment at 4.4% in September, and from shutdown-related disruptions that delayed some government-backed closings.