To some analysts' surprise, pending home sales tick higher

Most reports paint a bleak picture of the housing market, but new findings from the National Association of Realtors may indicate that more people will be moving in the near future.

The NAR's Pending Home Sales index - which registers the amount of new home contracts that have been signed, but not closed on - rose 5.2 percent to 79.4 in July. It was a slight rebound from drops in May and June, when pending home sales declined 29.9 and 2.8 percent, respectively. The report can sometimes provide a glimpse into what the housing market will look like in two months, suggesting that existing-home sales might also increase in the near future.

That's welcome news in some regions of the country that have seen declining moving activity. Home sales in the West have been lagging behind the rest of the nation for some time, but if the NAR report is an accurate indication of their future prospects then perhaps more people might be moving there in the next few months - pending homes sales in the West had the nation's highest increase at 11.6 percent.

Despite the positive news, pending home sale activity is still far off the pace set in April of this year, when the NAR index peaked at 110.9.


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