Buyers across the Northeast signed more contracts in April, a burst of activity that national data suggests was driven, at least in part, by a brief dip in mortgage rates that has since reversed.
Pending home sales rose 1.4% month over month in April and were up 3.2% compared with a year ago, according to a report released Monday by the National Association of Realtors.
The year-over-year figure is the more telling one: it marks continued annual gains nationally, a sign that buyers are slowly returning to a market that has been frozen by elevated borrowing costs and thin inventory for much of the past two years.
The Northeast posted a 6.6% monthly increase — the strongest of any region — though it remains the only region running behind year over year, down 0.6% from April 2025, according to NAR. The Midwest gained 3.0% month over month and 2.7% annually. The South slipped 0.7% for the month but gained 4.7% year over year. The West edged up 0.4% monthly and 3.8% annually.
The April activity coincided with a narrow window when borrowing costs eased. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged between 5.98% and 6.00% in early March — near its lowest point of the year — before climbing to 6.38% by March 26, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly Primary Mortgage Market Survey. Rates then pulled back into the low 6.20s through much of April before surging again. As of Tuesday, the 30-year fixed had reached 6.75%, its highest level since July, according to Mortgage News Daily — up 46 basis points from its April low.
“Buyers are coming out with cautious optimism despite increasing economic uncertainty and a slight rise in mortgage rates,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in the report.
Yun also pointed to the rate environment as a ceiling on demand. “Demand will easily be even higher once mortgage rates retreat to the levels they were at earlier this year,” he said.
The tension Yun is describing is real. Those earlier-in-the-year levels — sub-6% in early March — appear to be out of reach for now. Mortgage News Daily attributed the recent spike to rising bond yields tied to growing concern over the trajectory of the Iran war.
Supply, not rates, may be the longer-term problem.
Yun warned that without a meaningful increase in housing inventory, home price growth could outpace wage growth and further erode the homeownership rate — an outcome that would fall hardest on first-time buyers. “Unless supply meaningfully increases, home price growth could outpace wage growth and further erode the homeownership rate,” he said.
Pending contracts are considered a leading indicator for closed sales, typically finalizing within one to two months of signing. May existing-home sales figures are scheduled for release June 9, according to NAR.
State-level data that could offer a sharper local picture is expected soon.
The New York State Association of Realtors typically releases its monthly housing report in the weeks following the close of each month. Its most recent report, issued April 22, covered March activity and showed closed sales across the state down 5.7% year over year, with the median sales price up 3.8% to $435,000, according to NYSAR. An April report — which would capture the same period reflected in Monday’s NAR data — had not been released as of publication.
“All efforts need to be focused on boosting housing supply,” Yun said.
