Pending home sales increased 2% from last year as the local housing market neared the peak of the prime home buying and selling season, according the to Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR).

Sellers accepted 797 contracts, a 6.6% drop from the April total, flatten the prospects for what is typically the strongest month of the year for closing. NETAR’s Pending Sales Index, which benchmarks sales to a pre-pandemic level, was down 3.2%.

Pending sales are a leading indicator of housing activity based on signed contracts for existing single-family home and condominium sales in the region monitored by NETAR. Since resales go under contract 30 to 60 days before they close, pending sales offer insight into the market’s direction.     

Activity was flat in all three of the regional submarkets.

There were 297 pending sales in the affordable market, down one from last year.

The move-up market had 359 pending sales, up 19 from last year.

The luxury market had 95 pending sales, up five from last year.