Pending Homes Sales Stabilize

I realize that the news is all over the place regarding the near future of real estate prices, and while the doomsayers are certainly out there we are seeing signs of a stabilizing housing market - we've actually seen that for months here on the Coast. Here's the latest from the National Association of Realtors...

While pending home sales continued to edge down this month amidst the subprime fallout, NAR expects activity in the housing market to stabilize in the near-term, according to a recent report. The Association's Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI), a forward-looking indicator that gauges home sales activity for upcoming months, declined for the second consecutive month in April, falling 10.2 percent from a year ago to a reading of 101.4. While a PHSI of 100 or more generally indicates a high level of home sales activity, the April PHSI was the lowest reading in four years. "It looks like we may be leaving a period of market disruptions, and for the past two months the pending home sales index has been similar in year-ago comparisons, which means home sales might ease but should be fairly stable in the months ahead," said NAR Senior Economist Lawrence Yun.