Pending Home Sales: May 2011

Today, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) released their Pending Home Sales Report for May showing home sales increased with the seasonally adjusted national index jumping 8.2% since April and increasing 13.41% above the level seen in May 2010.

Meanwhile, the NARs chief economist Lawrence Yun is again dusting off the old "turnaround is on its way" jargon while he notes that some markets are seeing a notable pickup in contract signings.

"Some markets have made a rapid turnaround, going from soft activity to contract signings rising by more than 30 percent from a year ago, including areas such as Hartford, Conn.; Indianapolis; Minneapolis; Houston; and Seattle."

The following chart shows the seasonally adjusted national pending home sales index along with the percent change on a year-over-year basis as well as the percent change from the peak set in 2005 (click for larger version).