Pending Home Sales Rise For Second Straight Month

Pending home sales

were up in June for a second straight month in a row according to a report released today by the national Association of Realtors. A pending home sale is one where a contract to purchase has been signed but the sale has not closed yet. Typically, it could take 4 to 6 weeks from the time the contract is signed before the sale would actually closes.

The National Association of Realtors report showed that the pending home sales index rose by 2.4 percent in June following an 8.2 percent increase in May. So, even though the national news agencies are reporting the second uptick in a row for this index, it’s somewhat puzzling that after an 8.2% rise in May, the June increase was less than a third of that. Considering that we are in the strongest seasonal marketing period for real estate,I would feel much more confident if the increases for May and June were reversed. But, any increase is more than welcome in this devastated housing market.