AlQa'dah 12, 1436, August 27, 2015, SPA -- Slightly more Americans signed contracts to buy homes in July, an industry association said Thursday, as pending sales rebounded a bit after dropping in June. The National Association of Realtors reported that its seasonally adjusted pending home sales index increased 0.5 percent to 110.9 last month. It marks a slight recovery from June, when the index declined to 110.4 after reaching 112.3 in May, a level last seen in 2006. Steady job growth and low mortgage rates has improved home sales this year. As the recovery from the recession enters its seventh year, more Americans have rebuilt their savings, boosted their home equity, and returned to the real estate market. Pending sales are a barometer of future purchases, meaning that a lag of a month or two usually exists between a contract and a completed sale.
