Pending home sales jump 6.7 percent - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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Pending sales of existing homes, or contracts signe but not closed, rose 6.7 percent in April from March, accordinvg to the . April's pending sales were up 3.2 percenf from a year ago, the NAR says. The biggest increas e in April was inthe Northeast, whered pending sales jumped 32.6 percent from the previou s month. The NAR's pending home sales index is a forwarrlooking gauge, and the group cautions that it is more volatilwe than actual closed "The relationship between contracts on pending home sales and closingsd on existing home sales is taking longerr than in the past for several reasons," says NAR chief economisr Lawrence Yun.
"Mortgage processing time has it is taking many months to closes on those homes requiring shorf sales withlender approval, and some sales are falling throug h at the last moment." Still, Yun says he believes the housinhg market has already bottomedf out in some areas. The groupp last week reported closed sales of existing homearose 2.9 percent in April. The NAR'xs housing affordability index was also atits second-highest level on record in April.