Pending Home Sale Down 2.6% in June

Contracts for pending sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell to a record low in June as buyers sat on the sidelines, a survey from the National Association of Realtors showed on Tuesday.  The Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in June, fell to a record low 75.7 from a revised 77.7 in May. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a rise of 0.6%.

"We really need to see stronger job creation to have a meaningful recovery in the housing markets," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, adding "there could be a couple of additional months of slow home-sales activity before picking up later in the year" if the job market improves.

The June decline followed a 30% drop in May after a popular tax credit expired at the end of April.  The index was 18.6% lower than in June 2009 and fell in three of four regions compared to the prior month.  Contracts rose 3.7% in the South, the country's largest region, but dropped by 0.2% in the West, by 12.2% in the Northeast and by 9.5% in the Midwest.