India, April 25 -- Pending home sales in the U.S. surged by much more than expected in the month of March, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors on Thursday.
NAR said its pending home sales index spiked by 3.4 percent to 78.2 in March after jumping by 1.6 percent to 75.6 in February. Economists had expected pending home sales to rise by just 0.3 percent.
A pending home sale is one in which a contract was signed but not yet closed. Normally, it takes four to six weeks to close a contracted sale.
"March's Pending Home Sales Index - at 78.2 - marks the best performance in a year, but it still remains in a fairly narrow range over the last 12 months without a measurable breakout," said NAR Chief Economist Law...