Pending home sales dropped 0.8% to an index reading of 93.9 in February, after a revised 0.2% slip to 94.7 in January, according to a report released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors.
The January reading was initially reported as 0.1% rise to 95.0.
Economists polled by Thomson Reuters predicted that the index would be flat.
An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001.
Year-over-year the pending homes sales index is off 10.5% from last February, when the index was 104.9. The index has not been this low since it was 92.2 in October 2011.
Regionally, pending sales were mixed. The Northeast saw a 2.4% drop to 77.1, while sales grew 2.8% in the Midwest to 95.3. In the South, sales slid 4.0% to 106.3, and sales gained 2.3% to 86.1 in the West.
"Contract signings for the past three months have been little changed, implying the market appears to be stabilizing," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said. "Moreover, buyer traffic information from our monthly Realtor survey shows a modest turnaround, and some weather delayed transactions should close in the spring."
