US DATA: May NAR pending home sales index +8.2% to 88.8, with all
regions up — points to rising hsg activity in H2, NAR says. This is
+13.4% YOY, the first YOY gain since Apr’10 as some regions had fast
runaround. PHSI in the Northeast rose 7.3 percent to 69.2 in May and is
4.4 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index jumped 10.5
percent to 82.8 and is 17.2 percent higher than May 2010. Pending home
sales in the South increased 4.1 percent to an index of 95.0 in May and
are 14.6 percent higher than a year ago. In the West the index surged
12.9 percent to 100.6 and is 13.5 percent above May 2010.