Pending home sales jump 7.4 percent
Rise to highest level in more than a year comes as a surprise
...BREAKING NEWS...
The Associated Press
updated 7:11 a.m. PT, Wed., Oct. 8, 2008
Pending home sales rose 7.4 percent from July to August, an unexpected piece of positive news for the battered U.S. housing market.
The National Association of Realtors said Wednesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 93.4 from an upwardly revised July reading of 87. The reading was the highest since June 2007.
Home sales are considered pending when the seller has accepted an offer, but the deal has not yet closed. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag before a sale is completed.
Wall Street economists surveyed by Thomson/IFR had predicted the index would fall to 84.9.
The index, which sunk to a record low of 83 in March, stood at 85.8 in August 2007.
Sales are picking up in places that have seen the most severe declines in housing prices - including California, Florida Nevada and Arizona, plus Rhode Island and the Washington, D.C. area, said Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist. Still, Yun does not expect home prices to rebound until next year and only expects a modest gain of 2 to 3 percent in 2009.
MSNBC FULL STORY - URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27084129/
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