Pending home sales up

Pending home sales, a leading indicator, are up even as prices are expected to continue falling:

Here’s a bit of good news for the existing-home market: The National Association of Realtors’ monthly index for pending sales climbed 5.1% to 94.1 in March. That is (drumroll) the highest reading since November.

It was the second-straight monthly increase for the index, which tracks ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifgreements to purchase homes. The results beat expectations: Economists were looking for a 1.5% increase.

But, before you break out the bubbly, know that the reading is 26% below its April 2005 peak. Plus, prices, already down 30% from the peak, continue their downward spiral. The median sales price for an existing home is forecast to fall to $169,800 this year, down from $172,900 in 2010.

Here's the spin from the National Association of Realtors: