Pending-to-Active Ratio
What share of listings in an area have gone pending relative to what is still active for sale, and how that share has changed.
On this page
The share of an area's for-sale listings that have gone pending, measured against the listings that are still active.
realtor.com defines the pending ratio as "the share of pending listing to active listings in a given market during the specified month" (Housing Inventory: Pending Ratio in Johnson County, IN). A pending listing is one under contract but not yet closed; the ratio rises when homes are going under contract quickly relative to how many remain on the market, and falls when active supply is building up faster than homes are being absorbed into contract.
A higher ratio generally means the market is absorbing what is listed briskly — demand running ahead of, or in step with, supply. This family reads a higher ratio as the more favourable direction, alongside Days on Market as the other read on how quickly a market clears.
Metrics in this family#
Pending-to-active ratio
The trailing 12-month average of the pending-to-active ratio, as a percentage.
Pending-to-active ratio change, 1 year
The change in that ratio over the past year, in percentage points.
Pending-to-active ratio change, 3 year
The change in that ratio over the past three years, in percentage points.
Pending-to-active ratio change, 5 year
The change in that ratio over the past five years, in percentage points.
Pending-to-active ratio vs seasonal norm
How the current ratio compares with the typical ratio for this time of year in this same area, rather than with a fixed number of years back.
Considerations#
A ratio of two moving pieces. The pending-to-active ratio changes when the pending count changes, when the active count changes, or both, and this figure does not distinguish which. A rising ratio driven by fewer active listings reads the same as one driven by more homes going under contract.
Absorption is seasonal. Like the other families built on this source, the pace at which listings go pending shifts with the time of year in most places, which is why a seasonal-norm reading is offered alongside the year-over-year change.
Small ZIP codes are thin. Where the active count in a ZIP code is small, a handful of listings going pending can move the ratio by a large amount, in percentage-point terms, in a single month.
Reported as a share, not a count. Because it is a ratio rather than a per-1,000 count, its year-over-year and multi-year changes are reported here in percentage points rather than as a percentage change, to avoid a percent change of a percentage reading twice over.
References#
- 1Housing Inventory: Pending Ratio in Johnson County, INhttps://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/PENRAT18081