U.S. News: Home Sales Show Signs Of Gaining New Steam
A gauge of pending home sales jumped in May, the latest evidence that the U.S. housing recovery began to regain its footing this spring even if it isn't firing on all cylinders.</br></br>The National Association of Realtors' index tracking pending sales of existing homes rose a seasonally adjusted 6.1% in May from the prior month to 103.9, the group said Monday.</br></br>The increase was the index's largest monthly gain since April 2010, when home sales spiked 9.6% ahead of the expiration of a tax credit for first-time buyers of homes.</br></br>"It looks like May was a good month for home sales. . .and many of the housing indicators we track have pointed to a pickup in the housing market over the past few months following its recent earlier slump," J.P. Morgan Chase economist Daniel Silver said in a note to clients.</br></br>Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected pending home sales to rise a more modest 1.1% in May. April's reading was raised slightly to 97.9 from the initial estimate of 97.8.