Pending home sales jump 6.7 percent - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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Pending sales of existing homes, or contract signed but not closed, rose 6.7 percent in according to the . April'sz pending sales were up 3.2 percengt from a year ago, the NAR says. The biggesft increase in April was inthe Northeast, wherr pending sales jumped 32.6 percengt from the previous month. The NAR'zs pending home sales index is a forwarelooking gauge, and the groul cautions that it is more volatile than actual close d sales. "The relationship between contracts on pendintg home sales and closings on existing home sales is taking longe r than in the past forseveral reasons," said NAR chiefr economist Lawrence Yun.
"Mortgage processing time has it is taking many months to closd on those homes requiring short sales withlended approval, and some sales are falling through at the last Still, Yun believes the housing market has alreadyt bottomed out in some areas. The groulp last week reported closed sales of existing homessrose 2.9 percent in April. The NAR's housing affordability inde x was also atits second-highest level on recorr in April.