US: Pending home sales strengthen 3.5% in October

"Pending home sales rebounded strongly in October following three straight months of diminishing activity, but still continued their recent slide of falling behind year ago levels," the National Association of Realtors announced on Wednesday.

Key quotes

The Pending Home Sales Index rose 3.5 percent to 109.3 in October from a downwardly revised 105.6 in September.

The index is now at its highest reading since June (110.0), but is still 0.6 percent below a year ago.

Home shoppers had better luck finding a home to buy in October, but slim pickings and consistently fast price gains continue to frustrate and prevent too many would-be buyers from reaching the market.

Existing inventory has decreased every month on an annual basis for 29 consecutive months, and the number of homes for sale at the end of October was the lowest for the month since 1999.