Pending home sales show healthy gain
WASHINGTON – Feb. 3, 2009 – Pending home sales increased as more buyers took advantage of improved affordability conditions, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Big gains in the South and Midwest offset modest declines in other regions. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in December, rose 6.3 percent to 87.7 from an upwardly revised reading of 82.5 in November, and is 2.1 percent higher than December 2007 when it was 85.9. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says the index shows a modest rebound. “The monthly gain in pending home sales, spurred by buyers responding to lower home prices and mortgage interest rates, more than offset an index decline in the previous month,” he says. “The biggest gains were in areas with the biggest improvements in affordability.” NAR’s Housing Affordability index rose 10.9 percent in December to 158.8, the highest on record. The HAI shows that the relationship between home prices, mortg