A chorus of voices is giving hope to the housing industry, which is starting to show signs of recovery. Demand for housing, as measured by pending home sales, was at a two-year peak in October, according to the National Association of Realtors. Builders broke ground on 894,000 housing units that same month, their fastest pace in four years, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), which surveys its members every month, declared that its Builder Confidence Index hit its highest level in November since May 2006.

September existing-home sales declined modestly, according to the National Association of Realtors. Inventory continued to tighten and the national median home price recorded its seventh back-to-back monthly increase from a year earlier.  

Total existing-home sales fell 1.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.75 million in September from an upwardly revised 4.83 million in August, but are 11.0% above the 4.28 million-unit pace in September 2011.

Sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops rose 2.3% in July to an adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, fell 1.4% to 99.3 in June from a downwardly revised 100.7 in May but is 9.5% higher than June 2011 when it was 90.7, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The data reflect contracts but not closings.

The index marks 14 consecutive months of year-over-year gains.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes declined 8.4% in June 2012 compared with the previous month, reaching an annual rate of 350,000 units, according to figures from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

The bad news follows similar numbers from the National Association of Realtors, which reported last week that completed sales transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops declined 5.4% in June 2012 compared with May.

Sales of existing single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops declined 1.5% to an adjusted annual rate of 4.55 million in May, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

Limited supplies of housing inventory held back existing-home sales, according to the NAR, but sales were up 9.6% over the same month last year.

The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 4.1% to 101.4 in March from an upwardly revised 97.4 in February and is 12.8% above March 2011 when it was 89.9, according to the National Association of Realtors. The data reflect contracts but not closings.

The index is now at the highest level since April 2010 when it was 111.3.

Data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed a decline in total existing-home sales for the month of March. 

Sales of existing-homes declined 2.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.48 million in March.

Still, economists from the NAR see signs of a stabilizing market in the figures.