Sales contracts signed in April rise 6% in last month for tax credit

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The number of previously owned homes placed under sales contract rose 6% in April, the last month that a federal tax credit for buyers was available, a national group said Wednesday.

Pending sales have now risen for three straight months, the National Assn. of Realtorsin Washingtonsaid. The group’s pending-home-sales index rose to a level of 110.9, up from a revised 104.6 in March. That was 22.4% higher than in April 2009, when it was 90.6.

The index is based on a national sample covering about 20% of transactions for sales of previously owned homes. An index of 100 represents the average level of business in 2001, the first year to be examined as well as the first of five consecutive record sales years.

Pending sales were at their highest level since October 2009, according to the index, when buyers were rushing to meet an initial Nov. 30 deadline for the expiration of up to $8,000 in federal tax incentives for first-time buyers. Congress extended that credit last year through April 30 and expanded it to include up to $6,500 for some current homeowners.

Sales plummeted in the months following the credit’s last expiration, and many economists expect a similar slump in coming months with the credits finished.

-- Alejandro Lazo