Pending home sales in the U.S. increased by much less than expected in the month of April, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday, with gains in the Northeast and Midwest largely offset by declines in the West and South.
NAR said its pending home sales index edged up by 0.3 percent to 106.0 in April after jumping by 1.5 percent to 105.7 in March. Economists had been expecting the index to increase by about 1.4 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
Despite the much weaker than expected increase, the pending home sales index still reached its highest level since hitting 110.9 in April of 2010, just before the deadline for the homebuyer tax credit.
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