U.S. pending home sales rise marginally in October, shows steady improvement in housing sector

Pending home sales in the United States marginally rose during the month of October, showing off a steady improvement in the housing sector through this year and next. Also, a limited quantity of existing home inventories led to the mild rise in sales, despite a strong consumer-led residential properties demand.

US pending home sales rose 0.1 percent m/m in October, coming in line with consensus estimates. The September print was revised lower by one-tenth to 1.4 percent m/m. Sales increased in the Northeast, Midwest, and West on the month, data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed Wednesday.

However, sales declined 1.3 percent in the South, following solid growth the previous month. On the whole, today’s data are consistent with market view of steady improvement in the housing sector through this year and the next.

Further, there are underlying concerns surrounding the availability of houses in the market, raising eyebrows over a possible upward pressure on the prices. This year, 40 percent of sales were above list price compared with 33 percent last year, reports said.

Although worries remain regarding the overall health of the economy, guidelines remain to be framed post the Federal Reserve December monetary policy meeting and the new policy framework to be revealed by the President-elect Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, the dollar index has formed a bullish pattern at 101.43, down 0.09 percent at the time of closing, while at 5:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Dollar Strength Index remained neutral at -18.48 (a reading above +75 indicates bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex