US: Pending home sales lessen 0.8% in July

"Pending homes sales stumbled in July for the fourth time in five months as only the West saw an increase in contract activity," the National Association of Realtors announced on Thursday.

Key highlights:

• The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, decreased 0.8 percent to 109.1 in July from a downwardly revised 110.0 in June.
• After last month’s decline, the index is now 1.3 percent below a year ago and has fallen on an annual basis in three of the past four months.
• Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, says “the housing market remains stuck in a holding pattern with little signs of breaking through. The pace of new listings is not catching up with what’s being sold at an astonishingly fast pace.”