01.10.2006 15:39 Real Estate
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The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed each month, rose to 110.1 from 105.6 in July.
It was the first increase since May. Still, the index was 14.1 percent lower than August 2005, when the nation's housing market was near its peak.
"Our sense is that home sales may have reached a low in August," said NAR's chief economist David Lereah.
The overstock of homes for sale in the United States should be drawn down as fewer new homes come on the market, he said.
By early next year, he predicted, "home prices will rise, but at a slower pace than historic norms."
The index includes pending sales of existing single-family units, condominiums and co-ops. A home sale is pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed.
Pending sales typically close within one or two months of contract signing.
