US pending home sales tick higher in October

US pending home sales nudged up in October, according to data from the National Association of Realtors.

The NAR’s monthly index inched up to 110.0 last month from a slight downward revision of 109.9 in September and in line with consensus forecasts. With last month’s small increase, the index is now 1.8% higher than last October’s 108.1.

The NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said: “Most of the country last month saw at least a small increase in contract signings and more notably, activity in all four major regions is up from a year ago.

"Despite limited listings and steadfast price growth that's now carried into the fall, buyer demand has remained strong because of the consistently reliable job creation in a majority of metro areas."

With contract activity holding steady, Yun expects existing sales to close out 2016 at a pace of around 5.36m, up from 5.25m in 2015 and the highest since 2006’s 6.48m.

The pending home sales index for the South declined 1.3% to 120.1 in October, while prices in the West were up 0.7% to 108.3 and prices in the Northeast nudged up 0.4% to 96.9. In the Midwest, the index rose 1.6% to 106.3 last month.