{"id":276688,"date":"2026-04-20T11:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/276688\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:37:07","slug":"pending-home-sales-see-sharpest-decline-in-three-months-as-market-headwinds-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/276688\/","title":{"rendered":"Pending home sales see sharpest decline in three months as market headwinds mount"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rising mortgage rates and geopolitical uncertainty push the typical time-on-market to a five-year high.\u00a0<\/p>\n

U.S. pending home sales dropped 2.4% year-over-year during the four weeks ending April 5, marking the sharpest contraction in three months as high mortgage rates and geopolitical instability cooled the spring housing market.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuxury buyers aren\u2019t letting the high interest rates dissuade them, but for buyers on a tighter budget, the difference can be enough to kill affordability,\u201d said Stacey Bryant, a Redfin Premier agent. \u201cCost-conscious buyers are also jittery about the rising prices of other things\u2013like gas, food, and energy\u2013cutting into their budgets.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The slowdown is also reflected in the pace of transactions. According to a recent report <\/a>from Redfin, the typical home remained on the market for 51 days before going under contract. This represents the longest duration for this time of year since 2019, signaling a significant shift in buyer urgency.<\/p>\n

Industry analysts attribute the cooling demand to a convergence of economic and situational headwinds:<\/p>\n

Elevated Borrowing Costs: The weekly average mortgage rate climbed to 6.46%, hitting its highest level since last September.<\/p>\n

Pricing Pressures: Home-sale prices rose 2.2% annually\u2014the largest jump in a year. The combination of higher prices and rates has pushed the median monthly mortgage payment to $2,750.<\/p>\n

Geopolitical Conflict: Ongoing war involving Iran has fueled market volatility and pushed rates higher. While a ceasefire announced Tuesday rallied markets and lowered oil prices, the conflict has left many potential buyers on the sidelines due to economic uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Holiday Timing: The Easter holiday fell within this reporting period, unlike the previous year, causing a temporary dip in house-hunting activity.<\/p>\n

The supply side also saw a pullback, with new listings falling 2.6% annually. The decline was most pronounced in Florida, with Tampa and Miami seeing drops of 17.2% and 13.5%, respectively. Conversely, a handful of markets defied the trend; San Jose saw a 14.4% increase in new inventory, followed by Philadelphia and Milwaukee.<\/p>\n

Despite the drop in new listings, real estate experts noted that the broader landscape remains a buyer\u2019s market in nearly every region of the country as inventory levels stabilize against thinning demand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rising mortgage rates and geopolitical uncertainty push the typical time-on-market to a five-year high.\u00a0 U.S. pending home sales…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":276689,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-276688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-la","9":"tag-la-headlines","10":"tag-la-news","11":"tag-los-angeles","12":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","13":"tag-los-angeles-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/276689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}