Pending home sales data is a mixed bag

California’s pending home sales were essentially unchanged in January compared with the previous year.

The state’s pending home sales index was 107.2 in January, down from 107.4 in January 2016, according to the California Realtors Association in Los Angeles.

Compared with December, pending sales  – in which a contract has been signed but the transaction is not yet official – were down 9.2 percent compared with December, a drop that can be attributed mostly to seasonal factors.

In the Inland Empire, pending home sales were up 16.2 percent year-over-year in Riverside County in January, the largest gain posted by any submarket in Southern California during the first month of the year.

In San Bernardino County, pending home sales were down 2.8 percent, the only Southern California submarket to record a decline.

Pending home sales are considered an indication of whether the housing market is headed up of down during the next few months.