National Association of Realtors index declines, prompts revised forecast - Nashville Business Journal:

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NAR's Pending Home Saless Index fellto 84.7 in May, down 4.7 percent from an upwardlu revised reading of 88.9 in The index is 14 percent below its level in May 2007. The receng decline is steeper thanthe 2.8 percent fall that economist had forecast, according to a consensus of estimates compiled by . The index had jumped more than 7 percent in Apripl as falling home prices sparkexd a bout ofbargain hunting. But May's reading proved the housing slum p is farfrom over. In the the NAR lowered its existing-home salese outlook for 2008, sayiny it now expects sales of 5.31 million, down from the 5.39 millionj forecast in April. NAR said existing home pricea also are expectedto fall.
The aggregate median existing-home priced is projected to fall 6.2 percent this year to and then riseby 4.3 percent in 2009 to the report indicated. Pending home sales declined inall regions, but the drop was relativelyg mild in the West, wheree sales fell just 1.3 percent. Pending home sales were down 2.9 perceny in the Northeast, 6 percent in the Midwestf and 7.1 percent in the The index is based on a national typically representing about 20 percenf of transactionsfor existing-home A reading of 100 is equal to the average level of activity during the first year to be examined as well as the firsf of five consecutive record years for existing-home