Pending sales were up 8% from Nov. last year following a 1% increase in Oct.

The Northeast Tennessee Association of Realtors (NETAR) Pending Sales Index, which benchmarks the market to its 2018 annual average, dropped 13 points. That parallels the year-to-date sales trend that shows a five-month decline has dropped sales to pre-pandemic levels.

Buyers accepted 608 contracts – 87 fewer than they did in October and 44 more than this time last year.

Pending sales represent homes that have a signed purchase contract but have not closed. Accepted contracts typically close in a month to six weeks.

NETAR’s Pending Sales Index declined 13 points from the previous month; however, it’s five points higher than it was during Nov. last year. The index removes some of the noise from the monthly raw numbers and benchmarks how the market is performing against a pre-pandemic baseline. The index is a forward-looking indicator based on the 2018 annual average for signed contracts instead of closings. An index of 100 is equal to the pre-pandemic accepted contracts level. An index of over 100 is the percentage increase, below 100 is a decline.

Nov.’s mid-month report also revised the number of closings upward. And there was a small decrease ($323) in the average sales price. The median sales price didn’t change. Mid-month data typically see changes after closings filed too late for the first-of-the-month tally are added.

Last month’s revision added six closings to the sales total. The new sales total is 606, down 0.2% from last year. The new avg. sales price is $293,508, up 10.5% from last year. The median price was unchanged at $250,000, up 8.7% from last year.

New contracts in the affordable market increased 2.5% to 209. The biggest increase came in the $200K to $250K price range.

The move-up market pending sales were up 16.3% (293 listings). The largest increase was in the $300K-$400K price range.

Sellers in the luxury market accepted 12 more contracts than this time last year, bumping the year-over-year tracking by 28.6%. Currently, there are 359 active listing in the $500K and up luxury market.