the number of houses going under contract in the us continued its downward trend in april falling for a sixth straight month amid rising mortgage rates according to data from the national association of realtors published thursday the pending home sales indexa leading indicator of home sales based on contract signingsdecreased 39 to 993 in april on month its lowest level since april 2020 economists polled by the wall street journal expected sales to fall 2 on month pending home sales in april were 91 below the same month a year earlier the escalating mortgage rates have bumped up the cost of purchasing a home by more than 25 from a year ago while steeper home prices are adding another 15 to that figure said lawrence yun nars chief economist existinghome sales are set to decline by 9 in 2022 and home price appreciation is expected to moderate to 5 by year end he said pending home sales decreased in three of the four us regions transactions fell the most in the northeast by 162 on month followed by the south and the west with declines of 47 and 43 respectively the index increased by 66 in the midwest according to the report