US DATA: March NAR Pending Home Sales Index +4.1% to 101.4 ( above
expectations) vs up-revised 97.4 in Feb; this is +12.8% yoy and a high
since April’10. PHSI in the Northeast slipped 0.8 percent to 78.2 in
March but is 21.1 percent above March 2011. In the Midwest the index
declined 0.9 percent to 93.3 but is 16.9 percent higher than a year ago.
Pending home sales in the South rose 5.9 percent to an index of 114.1 in
March and are 10.6 percent above March 2011. In the West the index
increased 8.7 percent in March to 108.0 and is +9.0% yoy.