Midwest leads nation in pending home sales gains

The country as a whole saw pending home sales climb in October, though the Midwest enjoyed the strongest surge.

Relocating families in that region signed more home contracts that month, pushing the National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index 27.3 percent higher to a reading of 81.7. The Northeast saw a weaker but still encouraging monthly rise, with pending home sales in that region increasing 19.6 percent to a reading of 71.3 on the index. Sales in the South jumped 7.1 percent, while moving activity in the West actually grew weaker, dropping sales there 0.4 percent.

Nationally, the index rose 10.4 percent to a reading of 89.3, still 20.5 percent below year-ago levels but nevertheless a positive sign that more Americans are in the process of buying new homes and will soon be hiring moving companies.

"The housing market clearly is in a recovery phase and will be uneven at times, but the improving job market and consequential boost to household formation will help the recovery process going into 2011," said the group's chief economist, Lawrence Yun.

Buyers may have been convinced into moving by low interest rates on mortgages, which are rising but remain near all-time lows. Freddie Mac reported that rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.46 percent last week.
 

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