Pending Home Sales Highest in 19 Months

Washington, DC, Dec. 29, 2011 -- Pending home sales continued to gain in November and reached the highest level in 19 months, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Pending sales increased 7.3% to 100.1 in November from an upwardly revised 93.3 in October and is 5.9% above November 2010 when it stood at 94.5. The October upward revision resulted in a 10.4% monthly gain.

The last time the index was higher was in April 2010 when it reached 111.5 as buyers rushed to beat the deadline for the home buyer tax credit.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the gains may result partially from delayed transactions.

"Housing affordability conditions are at a record high and there is a pent-up demand from buyers who've been on the sidelines, but contract failures have been running unusually high. Some of the increase in pending home sales appears to be from buyers recommitting after an initial contract ran into problems, often with the mortgage," he said.

"November is doing reasonably well in comparison with the past year. The sustained rise in contract activity suggests that closed existing-home sales, which are the important final economic impact figures, should continue to improve in the months ahead," Yun added.