NAR Pending Home Sales Index Falls 12%

An index that tracks pending home sales posted a 12% decline in July and dropped 16% from the level recorded a year earlier, a sign that the housing market is still weak.Created by the National Association of Realtors, the index is based on sale contracts signed each month. The July reading was 89.9. A year ago, the index stood at 107.1. "It's difficult to fully account for mortgage disruptions in the index, and our members are telling us some sales contracts aren't closing because mortgage commitments have been falling through at the last moment," NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said. The NAR can be found online at http://www.realtor.org.