02:49 PM EDT, 10/03/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Pending home sales in the US were flat in September after nine straight months of year-over-year declines as demand reached a turning point, Redfin (RDFN) said Thursday.

The forward-looking indicator of home sales held steady from the same point of 2023 during the four weeks ended Sept. 29, marking the first time since January pending sales didn't decline, the real estate brokerage's report showed.

Pending home sales increased in 27 of the 50 most populous US metros tracked by Redfin, reflecting the largest share since January. Gains were led by Phoenix at 13%, followed by San Jose, California, at 12% and Portland, Oregon, at 10%.

In Florida, a market plagued by natural disasters and skyrocketing insurance costs, pending sales continued to fall, Redfin's data showed.

Other demand indicators, including home tours and mortgage-rate locks, also improved in September as mortgage rates declined to two-year lows, the company's data showed. Redfin's Homebuyer Demand Index, which measures tours and other services, was up 9% sequentially to the highest level since April.

Homebuyers locked in their mortgage rates twice as much in September as they did in August, Redfin said, citing Optimal Blue data. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 6.12% as of Thursday, according to Freddie Mac.

Lower mortgage rates helped reduce the median monthly mortgage payment by 5.9% year over year during the four-week period ended Sept. 29 to $2,529, the biggest decline since May 2020. That's nearly $300 below April's all-time high.

New listings were up 4.3% year over year while months of supply ticked up 0.9 points to 4.2, the highest level since February. Active listings climbed nearly 17%, the smallest increase since April.

Price: 11.01, Change: -0.70, Percent Change: -5.94