US Pending Home Sales Index Rises Again in March

The National Association of Realtors announced its pending home sales index, which measures contract signings for purchases of previously owned homes, increased 1.1% to a level of 108.6 in March, up from 107.4 in February. The Wall Street Journal surveyed economists who predicted the increase. The index rose 11.1% in March from the previous year.

Home sales have stabilized since dropping a year ago, when interest rates began to rise. Completed existing-home sales increased 6.1% in March. While sales of newly-built homes declined in March from February, they still increased almost 20% from sales in March 2014.

The pending home sales for existing homes rose in the South and the West in March, but fell in the Northeast and Midwest.

Source: The Wall Street Journal