(LATimes.com) — The number of previously owned homes placed under sales contract surged 8.2% in February, according to data released Monday, the first sign that the government’s extended tax credit for buyers may bolster sales this spring.
The National Assn. of Realtors said Monday that its pending home sales index, a forward-looking measure based on contracts signed, rose to 97.6 in February from a downwardly revised 90.2 in January. That was 17.3% above February 2009, when the index was at 83.2.
A reading of 100 is equivalent to the amount of activity hit during 2001, when home prices began their record climb and when the data were first measured.
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