Pending Home Sales Increase in March

Washington, DC, April 28, 2011 -- Pending home sales rose 5.1% in March from a downwardly revised 89.5 in February, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The index is 11.4% below March 2010.

The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales activity has shown an uneven but notable improvement.

“Since reaching a cyclical bottom last June, pending home sales have posted an overall gain of 24% and demonstrate the market is recovering on its own,” he said.

“The index means modest near-term gains in existing-home sales are likely, which would be even stronger if tight mortgage lending criteria returned to normal, safe standards.”