Econoday Economic Report: Pending Home Sales Index December 29, 2011

2011 Economic Calendar

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Pending Home Sales Index

Released On 12/29/2011 10:00:00 AM For Nov, 2011

	Prior	Consensus	Consensus Range	Actual
Pending Home Sales Index - Level	93.3			100.1
Pending Home Sales Index - M/M	10.4 %	1.4 %	-3.0 % to 11.0 %	7.3 %

Highlights
Softening prices and very low mortgage rates are boosting housing activity. The pending home sales index is up a very strong 7.3 percent in November on top of October's 10.4 percent gain. Regionally, November's gains are led by the West and include the Northeast and Midwest with the South showing no change. November and October taken together show solid gains for all regions.

Gains in this report reflect increases in the number of contracts that have been signed. But contracts don't always close especially given difficulty for many buyers, whose own homes are falling in value, to get credit. Still, the housing sector is moving forward and the stock market is moving to new highs following this report.

Definition
The National Association of Realtors developed the pending home sales index as a leading indicator of housing activity. As such, it is a leading indicator of existing home sales, not new home sales. A pending sale is one in which a contract was signed, but not yet closed. It usually takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale. Why Investors Care

2011 Release Schedule

Released On: 1/27 2/28 3/28 4/28 5/27 6/29 7/28 8/29 9/29 10/27 11/30 12/29

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