Sales Contracts On Homes Slightly Down In December

After hitting a year and half year high in November, the number of contracts to buy homes fell a bit in December.

The AP reports:

"The National Association of Realtors says its index of sales agreements fell 3.5 percent last month to a reading of 96.6. That's down from November's reading of 100.1.

"But the reading is still the second highest since April 2010, the last month that buyers could qualify for a federal home-buying tax credit.

"A reading of 100 is considered healthy.

The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch says the November to December change was a drop of 3 percent.

In its press release, the National Association of Realtors notes that the figures still remain better than a year ago.

"Even with a modest decline, the preceding two months of contract activity are the highest in the past four years outside of the homebuyer tax credit period," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist said in a statement. "Contract failures remain an issue, reported by one-third of Realtors over the past few months, but home buyers are not giving up."

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