March pending U.S. home sales up 5% from February and 21% from March 2009

May 4, 2010, 10:00 a.m. EDT Market Watch Press Release
U.S. pending home sales rise 5.3% in MarchStory


Comments Screener (16) Alert Email Print ShareBy Ruth Mantell WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Supported by a tax credit, the pending home sales index rose a seasonally adjusted 5.3% in March, and was up 21.1% compared with a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. In February, the index rose 8.3%, compared with an earlier estimate of an 8.2% gain. For March sales contracts rose 12.7% in the South, 1.9% in the West and 1.2% in the Midwest. Contracts declined 3.3% in the Northeast.