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Monday, March 28, 2016

NAR: Pending Home Sales Index increased 3.5% in February, up 0.7% year-over-year

by Calculated Risk on 3/28/2016 10:03:00 AM

From the NAR: Pending Home Sales Move Forward in February

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 3.5 percent to 109.1 in February from a downwardly revised 105.4 in January and is now 0.7 percent above February 2015 (108.3). Although the index has now increased year-over-year for 18 consecutive months, last month's annual gain was the smallest.
...
The PHSI in the Northeast declined 0.2 percent to 94.0 in February, but is still 12.6 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index shot up 11.4 percent to 112.6 in February, and is now 2.5 percent above February 2015.

Pending home sales in the South increased 2.1 percent to an index of 122.4 in February but are 0.4 percent lower than last February. The index in the West climbed 0.7 percent in February to 96.4, but is now 6.2 percent below a year ago.
emphasis added
This was above expectations of a 1.5% increase for this index.  Note: Contract signings usually lead sales by about 45 to 60 days, so this would usually be for closed sales in March and April.