Washington, D.C., March 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Pending residence gross sales in February elevated by 1.8% from the prior month and declined 0.8% year-over-year, in keeping with the Nationwide Affiliation of REALTORS® Pending Dwelling Gross sales report. The report gives the true property ecosystem—together with brokers and homebuyers and sellers—with information on the extent of residence gross sales below contract.
Month-over-month pending residence gross sales rose within the Midwest, South and West, and declined within the Northeast. 12 months-over-year pending residence gross sales rose within the South and West, and declined within the Northeast and Midwest.
“The slight gain in pending contracts appears to be driven by improved affordability conditions. However, those conditions could reverse if higher oil prices lead to an uptick in mortgage rates,” mentioned NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun. “The Midwest—the most affordable region of the country—was the strongest performer in February. But the Northeast was held back by a combination of higher home prices and a shortage of supply.”
“For first-time homebuyers, purchasing a home is not a snap decision,” Yun added. “It takes time to build credit, save for a down payment, and fulfill existing rental lease agreements. Still, there is sizable pent-up demand that could be released into the market. Although job gains have been sluggish in recent months, there are still 6 million more jobs in the country than in the pre-COVID period.”
February 2026 Nationwide Pending Dwelling Gross sales
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1.8% enhance month-over-month0.8% lower year-over-year
February 2026 Regional Pending Dwelling Gross sales
Northeast
3.6% lower month-over-month12.1% lower year-over-year
Midwest
4.6% enhance month-over-month0.1% lower year-over-year
South
2.7% enhance month-over-month1.2% enhance year-over-year
West
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0.9% enhance month-over-month3.2% enhance year-over-year
On the native stage, a number of markets posted notable year-over-year beneficial properties in pending residence gross sales. Among the many 50 largest metro areas, the next 10 markets posted the most important annual will increase in pending residence gross sales, in keeping with information from Realtor.com® Economics:
San Diego–Chula Vista–Carlsbad, CA (+13.5%)Jacksonville, FL (+12.1%)San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara, CA (+10.6%)Denver–Aurora–Centennial, CO (+10.5%)Miami–Fort Lauderdale–West Palm Seaside, FL (+10.0%)Phoenix–Mesa–Chandler, AZ (+9.8%)Sacramento–Roseville–Folsom, CA (+9.3%)Kansas Metropolis, MO-KS (+8.7%)Austin–Spherical Rock–San Marcos, TX (+8.1%)Oklahoma Metropolis, OK (+7.4%)
In regards to the Nationwide Affiliation of REALTORS®The Nationwide Affiliation of REALTORS® is concerned in all points of residential and industrial actual property. The time period REALTOR® is a registered collective membership mark that identifies an actual property skilled who’s a member of the Nationwide Affiliation of REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics. Without cost client guides about navigating the homebuying and promoting transaction processes—from written purchaser agreements to negotiating compensation—go to info.realtor.
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*The Pending Dwelling Gross sales Index is a number one indicator for the housing sector, primarily based on pending gross sales of current properties. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed however the transaction has not closed, although the sale often is finalized inside one or two months of signing.
Pending contracts are good early indicators of upcoming gross sales closings. Nonetheless, the period of time between pending contracts and accomplished gross sales just isn’t similar for all residence gross sales. Variations within the size of the method from pending contract to closed sale will be attributable to points similar to purchaser difficulties with acquiring mortgage financing, residence inspection issues, or appraisal points.
The index relies on a pattern that covers about 40% of a number of itemizing service information every month. In creating the mannequin for the index, it was demonstrated that the extent of month-to-month sales-contract exercise parallels the extent of closed existing-home gross sales within the following two months.
An index of 100 is the same as the common stage of contract exercise throughout 2001, which was the primary yr to be examined. By coincidence, the quantity of existing-home gross sales in 2001 fell inside the vary of 5.0 to five.5 million, which is taken into account regular for the present U.S. inhabitants.
