Pending home sales jump 6.7 percent - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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Pending sales of existing homes, or contracts signe d but not closed, rose 6.7 percentg in April, according to the . April'zs pending sales were up 3.2 perceny from a year ago, the NAR says. The biggestg increase in April was in the where pending salesjumped 32.6 percentt from the previous month. The NAR's pending home salew index is a forwardlookingf gauge, and the group cautions that it is more volatilde than actual closed "The relationship between contracts on pending home salesz and closings on existing home sales is taking longer than in the past for severall reasons," says NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun.
"Mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many monthw to close on those homes requiring shorgt sales withlender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment." Still, Yun says he believee the housing market has alread bottomed out in some The group last week reported closed sales of existing homes rose 2.9 percentg in April. The NAR's housing affordability index was also atits second-highesyt level on record in