Pending home sales rose in April

Philadelphia Inquirer, The, June, 2008 by Alan J. Heavens Inquirer Real Estate Writer

Pending home sales, a measure based on sales agreements signed during a month, rose 6.3 percent in April, but remained 13.1 percent lower than April 2007, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday. The Western states, with inventories brimming with lower-priced foreclosures, saw the biggest monthly and year-over-year increases - an 8.3 percent rise in April and a 4 percent gain from April 2007.

Lawrence Yun, the industry group's chief economist, said it was unclear whether the bargain-hunters in the West were "investors or owner-occupants." While the national real estate market may not yet have hit bottom, "it looks like home sales may finally be stabilizing," said Joel F. Naroff, chief economist at Commerce Bancorp Inc., of Cherry Hill. "Maybe the housing market will not be leading the way for quite a long time, but we have to hit bottom before we can start to rebound, and that may be ...