The spring house selling season is finally here. Pending home sales moved higher in March,

even as mortgage rates and gas prices climbed. I'm Kathy Fedke, and this is real estate news for investors.

This is Real Estate News with Kathy Fedke. Contract signings rose 1.5% from February, though they're still down 1.1% compared to a

year ago. According to National Association of Realtors data cited by Realtor.com, this increase

suggests there is still strong pent-up demand from buyers waiting on the sidelines.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says more inventory will be key to turning that demand into actual

sales. He also points out that first-time buyers are the most sensitive to rates, which is why

smaller, more affordable homes are still in high demand.

Regionally, the South and Northeast saw gains in pending sales, while the Midwest and West

pulled back slightly. On a yearly basis, the South stood out again, supported by strong

job growth and price reductions in many markets. That combination could drive more activity

in that region this year.

Mortgage rates climbed from about 6.1 to 6.38% during March,

partly due to global uncertainty tied to the Middle East conflict and rising gas prices.

But Realtor.com economist Anthony Smith notes that rates are still about half a percent point lower than this time

last year, which is helping preserve some buyer purchasing power. On the supply side, there are

encouraging signs. Pending listings are up nearly 4 percent year over year, and new listings jumped

more than 21 percent from February. That's a significant increase and gives buyers more

options than they've had in years. At the same time, the national median list price has fallen 2.2%

compared to last year, marking five straight months of declines. For investors, this matters.

Pending sales are an early indicator of closings,

typically leading by one to two months. That means we could see a modest bump in closed sales

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