Surprise Increase in Pending Home Sales

New York Times (06/10/08) P. C5
The National Association of Realtors reports that its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose to 88.2 in April, up from March's readout of 83.0. Wall Street economists polled by Thomson/IFR were expecting the reading to hold at 83, but the index surprised watchers by rising to its highest level since October. NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun says the rise in pending sales in troubled markets suggests that bargain hunters are active, and Global Insight economist Patrick Newport says banks are offering homes at fire-sale prices. Last April, the index had a reading of 101.5.