The National Association of REALTORS® released its Pending Home Sales report on October 20, 2026 showing a 7.3% monthly decline in pending contracts for September and an 11.3% drop from September a year earlier. The report aims to give agents, buyers and sellers a count of homes under contract to help market participants.
Month-over-month pending contracts fell in all four major regions. The West had the largest decline at 9.2%. The South followed with an 8.2% drop.
The Midwest decreased by 6.5%. The Northeast saw the smallest monthly decline at 4.2%.
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Year-over-year decreases also appeared across the board. The West led with a 15.0% fall, the South was down 12.0%, the Midwest dropped 8.7% and the Northeast declined 9.4%.
Realtor.com® Economics provided metro data covering the 50 largest metro areas. Among those 50, the 10 metros with the smallest year-over-year declines in pending sales were: Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin, TN -2.0%; Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT -2.1%; San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA -3.5%; San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA -4.6%; Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY -5.6%; Richmond, VA -5.8%; Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX -5.9%; Pittsburgh, PA -6.2%; Memphis, TN-MS-AR -6.3%; and San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX -7.1%.
NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun said, "Market conditions weakened in September due to fast-rising mortgage rates." He added, "Although job growth and income gains can support home purchases, housing affordability is more affected by changes in mortgage rates." Yun also noted, "Given that mortgage rates have already risen much more than the Federal Reserve's short-term interest rate hikes, mortgage rates could be topping out," and warned that "increasing energy prices and the resulting inflationary pressure are highly uncertain." He pointed out that "despite the difficulty of obtaining a mortgage, the limited number of distressed properties is ensuring steady home prices," and that "buyers and sellers may simply be holding back until mortgage rates move favorably." For investors, that mix of fewer contracts and steady prices is a signal to watch mortgage-rate moves and local market listings rather than broad headlines.
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