The index, which reflects changes in the volume of outstanding transactions for the sale of houses (Pending Home Sales) on the secondary market in the U.S. in July this year fell by 1.3% compared with June and amounted to 89.7 points, according to a report of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) .
Analysts polled by the information-analytical Internet portal dailyFX.com, predicted decline of 0.9% in monthly terms.
In annual terms, the indicator rose in July to 14.4% with a target of 78.4 points in July 2010, reports RIA “Novosti”.
“The market could easily go to a steady increase in the case of normalization of mortgage standards,” – the words contained in the report of the Chief Economist Lawrence Yun NAR.
In calculating the index of pending transactions for the sale of houses for 100 points is taken the average of the indicator in 2001, when the National Association of Realtors for the first time the U.S. has reported on this indicator.
Index of pending transactions for the sale of homes is an advance indicator for the housing market and reflects the number of signed contracts for the purchase and sale of residential real estate transactions which have not been completed. Closing of the transaction, usually occurs within one to two months. The data on closing a deal are included in another index, calculated by the NAR – an indicator of sales in the secondary market (Existing Home Sales).