pending home sales which are a measure of signed contracts to buy existing homes fell an unexpected 23 in september compared with august according to the national association of realtors analysts were predicting a slight monthly gain sales were 8 lower compared with september 2020 pending sales are a forwardlooking indicator of closed sales in one to two months sales may have dropped due to higher mortgage rates the average rate on 30year fixedrate mortgages fell below 3 in july and stayed there until the first week of september according to mortgage news daily then it began rising and crossed over 3 ending the month at 315 buyers are also still contending with very high home prices price gains have been close to 20 year over year there was a sign however in august that the market was cooling with fewer bidding wars and slightly more supply coming up for sale contract transactions slowed a bit in september and are showing signs of a calmer home price trend as the market is running comfortably ahead of prepandemic activity said lawrence yun nars chief economist its worth noting that there will be less inventory until the end of the year compared to the summer months which happens nearly every year regionally pending sales in the northeast fell 32 monthovermonth and were down 185 from a year ago in the midwest sales dropped 35 for the month and 58 annually sales transactions in the south decreased 18 for the month and 58 from september 2020 in the west sales fell 14 monthly and 72 from a year ago