The Realtors' leading indicator of future home sales jumped 8.2% from April to May and it is up 13.4% from a year ago with all four regions of the country showing an uptick in sales contracts.
The National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday morning that its pending sales index hit 88.8 in May, up from 82.1 in April, which was the lowest reading since last September.
The PSI actually fell 11 in April from 92.6 in March, according to the seasonally adjusted index.
The PSI covers signings of sales contracts that are expected to close in one to two months. Some fallout in sales is expected due to cancellations or loan rejections.
NAR economists are forecasting that existing home sales will be stronger in the second half of this year. But in the past few months, they have revised downward their estimate of second quarter sales to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5 million from a 5.24 million rate.
The NAR estimate of fourth quarter sales also was revised downward to a 5.1 million rate from a 5.28 million rate a few months ago.
Overall, existing home sales are slated to come in at 5.1 million for the 2011 calendar year, up only 3.8% from the previous year.
