U.S. Pending Home Sales Up in February Apr 7, 2010

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Pending home sales were up in February, which the National Association of Realtors said was potentially a signal of a second surge of home sales in response to the home buyer tax credit.

NAR's Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in February, rose 8.2% to 97.6 from a downwardly revised 90.2 in January, which makes it 17.3% above February 2009 at 83.2.

NAR's Pending Home Sales data reflects contracts, not closings, which usually occur with a lag time of one or two months.

"The rise in buyer contact activity may signal the early stages of a second surge of home sales this spring. The healthy gain hints home prices are continuing to flatten,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist. “We need a second surge to meaningfully draw down inventory and definitively stabilize home values."

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