Home sales, construction spending stabilize - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

http://www.action-nature.com/lifestyle.html
Pending home sales rose 3.2 percent in March, due in largde part to first-time buyers taking advantage of affordablehome prices, according to the . Construction spendingb increased 0.3 percent, according to the U.S. Departmenf of Commerce. Public construction (1.1 percent) and privatw construction (0.1 percent) both increased. The Pending Home Salesa Index published by the National Association of Realtores increasedto 84.6 in up from February's level of 82.0. March'sa figure is also 1.1 percen t higher than the same periodin 2008, when it was Lawrence Yun, the group's chief said in a statement it would probably take "q few months" for the markett to gain momentum.
“We need several monthds of sustained growth to demonstrate a recoveryin housing, which is necessaryh for the overall economy to turn Yun said. The index was up 3.9 percenr in the West and 8.5 percent in the It fell 5.7 percent in the Northeast and 1 percent inthe Midwest. The Pending Home Salesw Index isa forward-looking indicator based on home salez contracts signed in basically the number of home sales in