While a Bloomberg survey of economists predicted a one percent increase in pending home sales for November, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports the gain was 0.2 percent, the first in six months following a 1.2 percent drop in October. According to nationalmortgagenews, higher borrowing costs, tight lending standards and low inventory of available homes have discouraged prospective buyers in residential real estate. On a seasonally-adjusted basis the pending sales index was 101.7, just above the 100 mark which corresponds to the historically healthy level of contract activity in 2001. Regionally, MHProNews has learned, pending sales rose 2.3 percent in the South and 1.8 percent in the West, while in the Northeast sales fell 2.7 percent and in the Midwest 3.1 percent.

(Photo credit: Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)