June Pending Home Sales Disappoint

June pending home sales index dipped 1.4%, significantly worse than the 0.3% growth expected by economists.

• Regionally, the only monthly increase was in the West, up 2.6%.  The Northeast region pending home sales declined 7.6% m/m.
• The index was up Y/Y in all regions, with the Midwest increasing more than the rest at the rate of 17.3%.
• While the Y/Y figure looks encouraging, we note that it is based on very low prior year numbers; therefore it is not difficult to get Y/Y growth.

What is clear is that the housing recovery that many had been boasting about the last few months (with some good data to support their claims) has hit a speed bump.  Some may attribute this to "tight inventory", but we continue to say it has to do with the basics: lack of job and wage growth.