The National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced on Thursday its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index (PHSI) rose 1.1 percent m-o-m to 105.4 in May, up from 104.3 in April.

Economists had expected pending home sales to rise 1.0 percent m-o-m in May.

On y-o-y basis, the index dropped 0.7 percent. That was the 17th 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 all regions compared to May 2018. Pending home sales in the South inched up 0.1 percent m-o-m to an index of 124.1 in May, which is 0.7 percent higher than last May. The PHSI in the Northeast climbed 3.5 percent m-o-m to 92.0 in May and is now 0.5 percent below a year ago. The index in the Midwest surged 3.6 percent m-o-m to 100.3 in May, 1.2 percent lower than May 2018. Meanwhile, the index in the West fell 1.8 percent m-o-m in May to 91.8 and dropped 3.1 percent below a year ago.