The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released its pending home sales figures for the U.S. on Thursday. Pending home sales in the U.S. declined 3.7% in December, missing expectations for a 0.6% increase, after a 0.6% gain in November. November's figure was revised down from a 0.8% rise.

That was the biggest monthly decrease since December 2013.

The NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun said that the drop was partly driven by rising prices and low availability of houses for sale.