The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Thursday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index (PHSI) surged 3.8 percent m-o-m to 105.8 in in March, up from 101.9 in February.

Economists had expected pending home sales to rise 1.1 percent m-o-m in March. 

On y-o-y basis, the index dropped 1.2 percent. That was the 15th consecutive month of annual declines. 

According to the report, the pending home sales rose in three of the four regions in m-o-m terms but fell in most regions compared to March 2018. Pending home sales in the South climbed 4.4 percent m-o-m to an index of 127.2 in March, which is 0.7 percent higher than last March. Meanwhile, the index in the West ascended 8.7 percent m-o-m last month to 95.1 and declined only 1.6 percent below a year ago. The PHSI in the Northeast dropped 1.7 percent m-o-m to 90.5 in March and is now 0.4 percent below a year ago. In the Midwest, the index increased 2.3 percent m-o-m to 95.3 in March, 5.0 percent lower than in the corresponding period of 2018.