Along with many other housing indicators this past month, the National Association of Realtors' Pending Home Sales Index has shown a decline for November.

This comes as no surprise to many analysts -- as buyers face an ailing credit market and increased unemployment.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said a weakening was inevitable. “Mounting job losses and very weak consumer confidence deterred home buyers from signing contracts in November,” he said. “December’s housing market activity could be comparably lower due to ongoing problems in the economy, so a real estate-focused stimulus plan is urgently needed.”

Regionally, the index showed these statistics for November:

• Northeast down 7.2 percent

• Midwest down 6.7 percent

• South down 2.2 percent

• West down 2.4 percent

Published: January 7, 2009

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