California Pending Home Sales Drop

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Pending home sales in California dropped in November, due to combination of seasonal factors and shrinking housing affordability, according to the California Association of Realtors. 

The pending home sales index -- based on contracts, not closed sales -- decreased 13.6 in November to 93.8, down from 108.6 in October, marking the first double-digit drop is almost a year.

Pending sales were 9.4 percent lower than last year, CAR reports. 

National pending home sales for November have not been released yet, but they may reflect a similar downward trend. Last week, the National Association of Realtors reported the first yearly decrease in home sales in 29 months. 

The share of all distressed properties decreased in November, dropping from 14.6 percent in October to 13.6 percent in November. Distressed sales last month were almost two-thirds less than last year, when the share was 35.4 percent. 

California's housing inventory improved slightly for the second month in a row, while remaining at an "extremely low" level, according to CAR. 

Last week, CAR reported statewide home sales in November reached the lowest level since July 2010.