Stabilizing mortgage rates and a lack of resale inventory provided a boost for new home sales in April, even as builders continue to wrestle with rising costs stemming from shortages of transformers and other building materials and a persistent lack of construction workers, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

WASHINGTON – Pending home sales decreased in March for the first time since November 2022, according to the National Association of Realtors. Three U.S. regions posted monthly losses, while the South increased. All four regions saw year-over-year declines in transactions. The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) – a forward-looking indicator of home sales based on contract signings – waned by 5.2% to 78.9 in March. Year over year, pending transactions dropped by 23.2%. An index of 100 is equal to the level of contract activity in 2001.

sales of newly built, single-family homes in February increased 1.1% to a 640,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate from a downwardly revised reading in January.

High lumber prices are back, and the projections are that it will continue to rise into next year.