The latest pending homes sales index from the National Association of Relators shows that contracts were up in June by 5.3 percent.

While pending sales are still down 12.3 percent from last year -- this comes as welcome news.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, reported, “The vacillation of data from one month to the next indicates a housing market in transition. The rise in pending home sales was broad-based with all four regions showing gains. This is welcome news because a rise in contract activity is necessary for an overall housing recovery. With a tax credit now available to first-time home buyers, increases in home sales could be sustained with the momentum carrying into 2009.”

Regionally, the South saw the biggest jump in pending sales, jumping 9.3 percent. The Midwest saw only a 1.3 percent gain.

Yun continued, saying that home prices are not a down as expected. "Buyers entering the hardest-hit markets," he says, "in some cases with multiple-bid offers, may have put a floor on prices."

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Published: August 12, 2008

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