December pending home sales drop to lowest point in five years, despite much lower interest rates
January 30, 2019 at 10:00 AM EST
House hunters signed 2.2 percent fewer contracts to buy existing homes in December, according to the National Association of Realtors. These so-called pending sales are a future indicator of closings in one to two months. The Realtors' pending home sales index was also down a dramatic 9.8 percent compared with December 2017, marking 12 straight months of annual declines.