The National Association of Realtors leading indicator of future home sales edged up 0.3% in April after rising 1.5% in March.
“The housing market continues to squeak out gains from already very positive conditions,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.
The NAR’s pending sales index hit 106 in April, up 10.3% from a year ago. The index is based on number of contracts signed. The actual sales usually occur in a month or two.
“Pending contracts so far this year easily correspond to higher closed home sales in 2013,” Yun said.
NAR economists are forecasting
In April, the pending sales index jumped 11.5% in the Northeast and rose 3.2% in the Midwest. The PSI fell 1.1% in the South and took a bigger dip in the Western states.
“With pronounced inventory constraints, the index in the West fell 7.6% in April to 94.6 and is 2.6% below April 2012,” NAR said.
A 100 reading on the pending sales index is equal to the average level of contract activity in 2001.
