by Alan Zibel - Feb. 4, 2009 12:00 AM
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - An index that tracks signed contracts to purchase existing homes rebounded in December, as buyers snapped up properties at deep discounts, especially in the South and Midwest.
It was the second positive sign in the past two weeks for the troubled U.S. housing market, and may indicate that a bottom is forming.
Analysts, however, caution that prices are likely to keep falling through 2009, and say the outlook for home sales is uncertain, especially as layoffs mount and banks' lending standards remain tight.
The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for previously owned homes for December rose 6.3 percent to 87.7 from an upwardly revised November reading of 82.5, which was lowest month on record. That's better than the 82.3 reading economists expected, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters.
The reading also was up 2.1 percent from December 2007.
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