Deals for Home Resales Plunge

Chicago Tribune (07/09/08)
The National Association of Realtors' seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes fell 4.7 percent to 84.7 in May from an April reading of 88.9--a decline of 14 percent from a year earlier. A reading of 100 is equal to the average level of sales activity in 2001, when the index was launched. Home sales are listed as "pending" when the seller has accepted an offer but the deal has not gone to settlement. Geographically, the index dropped in all regions of the country, triggered by a 7.1-percent decline in the South, a 6-percent drop in the Midwest, a decline of 2.9 percent in the Northeast and a decline of 1.3 percent in the West.