<div id="subtitle">Report suggests slight improvement in housing market</div><div><p> People hoping to sell their homes may have reason for some cautious optimism. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports its Pending Home Sales Index rose slightly in December.</p><p>The index is based on the contracts sold in a given month, an early indicator of whether home sales are moving up or down. The December index increased 1.0 percent to 96.6 from 95.6 in November, and remains 10.9 percent above December 2008 when it was 87.1. </p><p>In November, the monthly index had fallen by 16.4 percent from surging activity in preceding months, mainly due to the first time homebuyers credit, that was set to expire at the end of November, before Congress extended it. </p><p>"There are easily understood swings in contract activity as buyers respond to a tax credit that was expiring and was then extended and expanded," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "These swings are masking the underlying trend, which is a broad improvement over year-ago levels. December activity was the fifth highest monthly tally in two years." </p><p>Buyers who have a contract in place to purchase a primary residence by April 30, 2010, have until June 30, 2010, to finalize the transaction to qualify for a tax credit of up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for repeat buyers. </p><p>The PHSI in the Northeast rose 2.3 percent to 76.1 in December and is 14.9 percent higher than December 2008. In the Midwest the index increased 5.2 percent to 86.9 and is 8.7 percent above a year ago. Pending home sales in the South rose 2.2 percent to an index of 98.4, and are 5.5 percent higher than December 2008. In the West the index fell 3.8 percent to 119.9 but is 18.6 percent above a year ago. </p><p>Yun projects the extended and expanded tax credit will encourage 2.4 million households to take the credit in 2010. </p><p>"While new-home sales will remain low due to a lack of construction, existing-home sales are projected to rise to around 5.6 million in 2010," Yun said. Last year there were 5.16 million existing-home sales." </p><p>He added that one of the greatest benefits of rising sales will be firming home prices. </p><p>"For several months now we've been seeing stabilization in all of the home price measures as inventory is pulled down," Yun said. "As a result, the housing wealth for many middle class families has begun to stabilize."

</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=68367574&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

Copyright 2010  <a href="http://content.mochila.com/api/content/asset?assetID=2010-02-03:ConsumerAffairsInc/consumeraffairscom/Pending_Home_Sales_Rise_in_Decem-10415/&uname=mochila_api&cert=d1ff44fd2ac969664ae05bf7687cc5d1&bpid=informcom">consumeraffairs.com</a></div></div>