Pending Home Sales Make End-of-Year Push

Pending home sales made an end-of-year push in December, picking up 1.6 percent from November in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI).
The rise in the overall PHSI—which also came in 0.3 percent higher than December 2015—was led by contract activity in the South and West, increasing 2.4 percent and 5.0 percent, in order. Contract activity in the Midwest, however, decreased 0.8 percent in December, while activity in the Northeast decreased, a