The Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) published by NAR is a leading indicator of housing activity as it is based on signed real estate contracts for existing single-family homes, condos and co-ops. However, a signed contract is not considered as a sale until the transaction closes.

According to the just released data by NAR, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of US pending home sales in September 2009 posted a monthly increase of 6.1%, following the momentum of the past seven months. Note that in August and July of 2009 the PHSI posted monthly increases of 6.4% and 3.2%, respectively.

Pending home sales in the other three US regions increased in September 2009 with the West posting the largest monthly increase of 10.2% following a 16% increase in August.

The Midwest posted the second best performance in terms of pending home sales, which increased by 8.1% in September 2009. Pending home sales in the South increased as well by 4.9%.

On a year-over-year basis, US pending home sales (not seasonally adjusted) posted a double-digit increase of 19.8%. The West and South were the best performing regions with year-over-year gains of 25.9% and 20.4%, respectively, while the Northeast and Midwest posted annual gains of 13.7% and 15.2%, respectively.

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