US pending home sales data suggests softness in Q4 home sales

US October pending home sales edged up slightly by 0.2% month on month, a more strong rebound was expected against the consecutive declines in past two months. 1.0% was expected by market consensus.

There is an increase seen in the seasonally adjusted index, to 107.7, which was 3.9% more than an year back. There was a re-bounce in sales in 2 out of the 4 regions, but South saw a drop for the 3rd month running.

"Pending home sales have been trending modestly lower since the summer. With about 80% of pending home sales likely turning into existing home sales transactions in the next two months, we see the data as suggesting some softness in home sales in Q4", says Barclays in a research note.