NAR’s Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) increased 1 percent to 96.6 in December from 95.6 in November, and is 10.9 percent higher than December 2008’s 87.1 index reading. Although the index declined 3.8 percent to 119.9 in the West, which includes California, it is 18.64 percent higher than December 2008.
“For several months now we’ve been seeing stabilization in all of the home price measures as inventory is pulled down,†said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “As a result, the housing wealth for many middle class families has begun to stabilize.â€
