Pending home sales continued to climb in June, rising 16.6% monthly since May, and rising 6.3% since June 2019, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Pending home sales continued to climb in June, rising 16.6% monthly since May, and increasing 6.3% since June 2019, according to the National Association of Realtors. This beats the expectation for the monthly gain, which was a rise of 12.5%. It’s the second straight month of increases in contract activity.

The Realtors have also raised their forecast for the housing market because of what they say is an apparent market turnaround. For 2020, existing home sales are expected to decline by only 3%. New home sales are projected to rise by 3%.

The previous forecast for existing home sales in 2020 was down 7.7%, with new home sales up 1%.

“It is quite surprising and remarkable that, in the midst of a global pandemic, contract activity for home purchases is higher compared to one year ago,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Consumers are taking advantage of record-low mortgage rates resulting from the Federal Reserve’s maximum liquidity monetary policy.”

Pending sales measure signed contracts on existing homes, so it shows that buyers were out shopping during the month of June, just before the most recent surge in coronavirus cases. Sales had spiked in May, a stunning 44% compared with April.

The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage at the beginning of June was about 3.24%, and by the end of the month it dipped to around 2.95%, according to Mortgage News Daily. Rates have been hovering near record lows, around 2.9% since then. The Realtors anticipate rates to stay at or near 3% over the next 18 months.