Pending Home Sales Jump

After several months of flat to negative results, existing home sales finally look like they may be on the rise. Pending sales in June jumped 0.9 percent to come in at the high end of Econoday's consensus range. All regions show gains in June including a 0.7 percent rise in the West which, however, still lags other regions on a yearly basis with a 5.6 percent decline. Total year-on-year pending sales are still in the negative column at minus 2.5 percent. Resales will need much more than a single month of improvement to make up what was a very soft Spring selling season for housing.