According the latest Pending Homes Sales Index report, home sales may only move at a snails pace in months ahead.

While May's monthly stats showed numbers has risen 5.8, July figures showed a 3.2 percent movement backwards. This trending up and then down has left a flat market. The July index remains 6.8 percent below July 2007 when it stood at 92.8.

Regionally, the Midwest was the only region that still saw gains -- and is only 2.4 percent below its year ago numbers. It is important to consider, however, that the Midwest didn't experience the heavy swings up and then down seen by other regions in the past few years.

NAR chief economist, Dr. Lawrence Yun, reported that "contract signings have been steaming ahead, nearly doubling in activity from a year before in several California and Florida markets. The outer Washington, D.C., exurbs also are coming around very strongly. The Northeast region retreated following a robust gain in the previous month, and soft activity was observed in the broad midsection of America despite very affordable conditions."

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Published: September 12, 2008

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