US pending home sales unexpectedly rebound in February on lower mortgage rates

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - Contracts to acquisition antecedently owned U.S. homes unexpectedly accrued successful February amid a diminution successful owe rates, but further gains are apt to ‌be constricted by the warfare successful the Middle East that is raising lipid ‌prices and fanning ostentation fears.

The pending location income scale rebounded 1.8% past period to 72.1, the National Association of ​Realtors said connected Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast contracts, which go income aft a period oregon two, falling 0.5%.

Contracts accrued successful the West, the densely populated South and Midwest regions, but fell successful the Northeast. Pending location income slipped 0.8% from a twelvemonth earlier.

Mortgage rates eased astatine the ‌start of the twelvemonth aft ⁠President Donald Trump ordered government-backed owe firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to grow purchases of mortgage-backed securities. But they person accrued successful caller weeks arsenic ⁠the U.S.-Israeli warfare with Iran boosted lipid prices and U.S. Treasury yields.

Mortgage rates way the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield.

"The flimsy summation successful pending contracts appears to beryllium driven by improved affordability conditions," said ​Lawrence Yun, ​the NAR's main economist. "However, those conditions could reverse ​if higher lipid prices pb to ‌an uptick successful owe rates."

Housing affordability has go an progressively potent governmental contented up of the November midterm elections. Trump past week signed an bid to amended entree to owe recognition and region regulatory barriers to the operation of affordable homes. Economists and realtors accidental expanding lodging proviso would code the affordability situation faced by imaginable location buyers. There is simply a captious shortage ‌of starter homes.

Builders person not ramped up single-family location ​construction due to the fact that of costly gathering materials resulting from Trump's import ​tariffs. Labor shortages due to the fact that of the ​administration's migration crackdown are besides adding to costs for builders.

There is besides a ‌shortage of gathering lots, portion sluggish caller ​home income person near an ​oversupply of unsold properties connected the market, constraining builders' quality to interruption crushed connected single-family lodging projects.

About 943,000 lodging units were started successful 2025, down from 1.016 cardinal ​units successful 2024, authorities information ‌showed.

A survey connected Monday showed builder sentiment small changed successful March, with builders continuing "to explicit ​affordability concerns stemming from elevated operation costs and shortages of buildable tons and ​labor."

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)