Pending home sales slide slightly

NEW ORLEANS, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- Pending U.S. home sales dipped slightly in September, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.

The Pending Home Sales Index, which predicts home closings one and two months down the road, declined 1.8 percent to 80.9 after climbing 4.3 percent in August, NAR said.

The index came in 24.9 percent below September 2009, a month pending contracts surged. In August, pending sales were 20.1 percent below August 2009.

"The foreclosure moratorium is likely to cause some disruption and contribute to an uneven sales performance in the months ahead," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun in a statement said.

Several of the nation's largest lenders have held back on pursuing foreclosures as they review their procedures after increased challenges in court over sub-par paperwork.

Yun said, however, the market was exhibiting signs of pent-up demand "that eventually will be unleashed as banks resolve their issues with foreclosures and the labor market improves."

The trade group said the pending home sales index fell 1.7 percent to 59.6 in September in the Northeast and dropped 5.7 percent to 64.2 in the Midwest. In the South, the index fell 3.5 percent to 87.6. In the West, the index climbed 3.5 percent to 104.6.