Pending home sales fell 7.6% to a reading of 90.4 in January from a revised 1.0% increase to 97.8 in December, originally reported as a 1.0% gain to 96.6, as November’s index is now reported as 97.0, according to an index released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors.
Thomson Reuters’ poll of economists had predicted a 97.6 reading.
“January pending sales, though still higher than one year ago, remain much lower than expected given that a large number of potential buyers are eligible for the expanded home buyer tax credit,” according to the associations’s chief economist Lawrence Yun.
