U.S. pending home sales climbed in August 2025, marking both monthly and annual gains as easing mortgage rates pulled more buyers back into the market.
The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, which tracks signed contracts on existing homes, rose 4.0% from July and was up 3.8% compared with a year earlier. The index is a forward-looking measure of housing demand and is seen as a barometer for future completed transactions.
Contract activity strengthened across most of the country, with the Midwest leading gains. Pending sales in the region surged 8.7% from July and 6.7% from a year earlier. The South and West also posted increases, while the Northeast saw a 1.1% monthly decline. On an annual basis, all regions recorded growth.
“Lower mortgage rates are enabling more homebuyers to go under contract,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR. He noted that affordability advantages in the Midwest are drawing particular interest from buyers.
Signs of shifting sentiment were also evident in NAR’s August Confidence Index. Nineteen percent of Realtors surveyed said they expect buyer traffic to rise over the next three months, up from 16% a month earlier. Expectations for seller traffic softened, however, with 19% anticipating an increase, down from 21% in July.
The data suggest momentum may be returning to the housing market after a stretch of subdued activity, though economists caution that affordability remains a hurdle in many parts of the country.
