Inman Real Estate News – Pending real estate sales gain momentum:

An index that measures U.S. pending home sales dipped 0.3 percent from February to March but is up 1.7 percent since March 2004, the National Association of Realtors reported today.

I wrote about this in March – it is a good indicator for where the market is going.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, the first year to be analyzed and the first of four consecutive record years for existing-home sales. The level of sales in 2001 is fairly close to the higher level of home sales expected in the coming decade relative to the norms experienced in the mid-1990s, the association reported, and an index of 100 coincides with a historically high level of home sales activity.

The Pending Home Sales Index is based on a large national sample, representing about 20 percent of transactions for existing-home sales. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity from 2001 through 2004 closely parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months. Link to the PDF is here.