Reading the Market: What Total and New Pendings Can Tell You
Quick Overview
When you need to make confident decisions about pricing, timing, or market positioning, there's crucial insight hiding in a stat called "pendings. It’s not flashy, but when you break it down into Total Pendings and New Pendings, you can get a surprisingly clear read on buyer activity, market movement, and pricing pressure.
This article pairs with a recent Substack post, where our founder, David Ziccardi, breaks down how these two types of pendings behave in different market scenarios. While that post dives deeper into the narrative and trends, here I focus on how this data shows up in real-world valuations—and what it means for you as a buyer, seller, or legal professional.
What Are Pendings?
When a home goes under contract—meaning the buyer and seller have agreed to terms—it's considered "pending." The property hasn’t closed yet, but it’s no longer actively listed. It’s a signal that a deal is in motion.
There are two important ways to look at pendings:
Total Pendings
This is the total number of homes currently under contract. It includes:
Homes that just went pending this month
Homes still under contract from prior months (due to long escrows, financing delays, inspections, etc.)
What rising Total Pendings may indicate:
Buyer activity is steady or growing
Closings are taking longer
Fewer deals are falling through
What falling Total Pendings may indicate:
Fewer homes are going under contract
Transactions are closing faster
Cancellations may be rising
New Pendings
New Pendings track the number of homes that went under contract this month only. It gives a real-time sense of current buyer activity.
If New Pendings are rising:
Buyers are active and engaged
Interest rates might be steadying
Prices are appealing enough to prompt action
If New Pendings are falling:
Demand may be cooling
Rates could be climbing
Pricing may be overshooting perceived value
In other words, New Pendings = buyer demand now. Total Pendings = the pipeline of active deals.
Why Both Metrics Matter
Looking at just one in isolation can be misleading. Here’s how they work together:
New Pendings rising + Total Pendings falling = buyers are active, but closings are fast or cancellations are up.
Total Pendings rising + New Pendings flat = a backlog may be forming while fresh demand softens.
Tracking both helps answer key questions:
Are buyers entering the market?
Are deals sticking?
Is inventory getting absorbed?
Are closings fast or delayed?
Why I Track These in Every Appraisal
As an appraiser, I go beyond recent sales. I look at Total and New Pendings to:
Understand buyer confidence
Read the pace of the market
Anticipate pricing trends and shifts
This context helps me deliver valuations that reflect what's happening now, not just what happened months ago.
Why It’s Useful to You
If you're selling, New Pendings can help you time your listing. If you're buying, Total Pendings can show how competitive your area is. If you’re navigating an estate or legal valuation, this kind of insight helps ground decisions in what’s happening now—not just what happened last month.
Bottom Line
Pendings are where the action is—if you know how to read them. Want help understanding what’s happening in your local market? I’d be happy to walk through the data with you.
Serving: Bucks County, Burlington County, Camden County, Chester County, Delaware County, Gloucester County, Mercer County, Montgomery County, and Philadelphia County.