Pending home sales give hopeful sign for U.S. housing market

Reuters

Published Mar 30, 2015 10:06AM ET

Pending home sales give hopeful sign for U.S. housing market

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Contracts to purchase previously owned U.S. homes rose to their highest level in 1-1/2 years in February, a sign the lackluster recovery in the U.S. housing market could be accelerating.

The National Association of Realtors on Monday said its pending home sales index rose 3.1 percent last month.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.4 percent gain, although the association also revised previous readings to show a smaller gain in January than initially estimated.