Pending Home Sales rose 7.4% last month; significantly higher than the 1.9% expected.  That could be due in part to the one indecisive client I have who has written an offer on almost every home he’s toured. Geez that’s been frustrating for everyone! But I’m glad he’s taking action and I’m glad he’s finding a lot to like out there; I’m also really sorry for the sellers and listing agents who are left emptyhanded after he’s cancelled on them.  But once this one buyer closes next week, the Pending Home Sales number of the whole country may diminish slightly. In all seriousness though, more homes under contract is what we really want to see, so I’m happy that Pending Sales are up.

The ADP private jobs report this morning showed 233K newly created paid positions, which was more than double what the markets forecast. We’ll see government jobs added to that number when the BLS releases their report in two days.  The outlook calls for only 111K total new jobs, which would be well under last month’s 254K as well as way under today’s ADP report.  These numbers don’t always match up very well so it’s easy to want to dismiss them, but a strong labor market fueling the ebbing flame of inflation has been the biggest factor in this last month’s rate increases, so they are being scrutinized.

After the month-long runup, interest rates are ripe for a reversal lower.  But with GDP also on the rise and the unknowns of the Fed decision ahead, I see rates moving sideways for the next week.