Realtors index: Pending home sales jump sharply - Phoenix Business Journal:

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NAR’s latest Pending Home Sales Index jumped sharplyin April, a strong indicatioh that the U.S. housing market should continur its slow recovery throughthe summer. The indexs is a forward-looking indicator baserd on contracts signedin April. It rose 6.7 percenyt to 90.3 from a reading of 84.6 in and is 3.2 perceny above April 2008 when it was An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activityduringf 2001. That was the first year data was collected, as well as the first of five consecutive record yearasfor existing-home sales. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said buyers are respondintg to very favorablemarket conditions.
“Housing affordability conditions have been athistoric highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax creditr is beginning to impactf the market,” he said. “Since first-time buyersz must finalize their purchaseby Nov. 30 to get the we expect greater activity in the months and that should spark more sales by repeat While pending home sales gainedd inthe West, it was to a lesser extent than other areas of the The index rose 1.8 percent in the West to but is 2.9 percent below April 2008. The indecx in the Northeast shotup 32.6 percent to 78.9 in Apripl and is 0.8 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the inde x rose 9.8 percent to 90.4 and is 11.
1 percent abover April 2008. The index in the South slipped 0.2 percenf to 93.0 in April but is 3.5 percenf higher than a year ago. According to the NAR, the Pending Home Sales Index is based on a largrenational sample, typically representing about 20 percent of transactionss for existing-home sales.