Pending home sales rose by 3.2% in March and construction spending also increased. According to the National Association of Realtors, the pending home sales increase is due in large part to buyers taking advantage of affordable home prices.

The increase in construction spending was 0.3%, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Private construction was up 0.1% and public 1.1%.

The Pending Home Sales Index published by the National Association of Realtors increased from February’s 82.0 to 84.6 in March. March was in fact 1.1% higher than the same period in 2008 when it was 83.7.

NAR’s chief economist, Lawrence Yun stated that it would likely take the market a few months to gain momentum, and that only after several months of sustained growth could it be assumed that recovery was underway.

According to the Pending Home Sales Index, numbers were down 5.7% in the Northeast, and 1% in the Midwest, but numbers were up 8.5% in the South and 3.9% in the West.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Pending Home Sales Index, it is a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed for home sales. Current numbers reflect March, basically indicating the number of home sales in progress.

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*Source: Pacific Business News