Pending home sales jump 6.7 percent - Washington Business Journal:

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Pending sales of existing homes, or contractsw signed but not rose 6.7 percent in April, according to the . April's pendingy sales were up 3.2 percenty from a year ago, the NAR says. The biggestt increase in April was in the where pending salesjumped 32.6 percent from the previous The NAR's pending home sales index is a forwardr looking gauge, and the groupo cautions that it is more volatile than actual closexd sales. "The relationship between contracts on pending home salews and closings on existing home sales is takingb longer than in the past forseveral reasons," says NAR chiefd economist Lawrence Yun.
"Mortgage processinh time has increased, it is taking many monthz to close on those homea requiring short sales withlender approval, and some saleds are falling through at the last Still, Yun says he believes the housing markeg has already bottomed out in some areas. The grouop last week reported closed salews of existing homesrose 2.9 percent in The NAR's housing affordability index was also at its second-highest level on record in