Pending Home Sales Move Higher

Existing home sales have been struggling to move higher but today's pending home sales index will raise expectations for improvement. Pending home sales rose a sharp 3.1 percent in data for February though they follow an even sharper 5.0 percent revised decline in January. The Northeast has been showing life in recent housing data with February pending sales jumping 10.3 percent in the month. Pending sales in the South rose 3.0 percent with the Midwest up 0.7 percent and the West up 0.4 percent.