Pending home sales rise for 6th straight month

Pending home sales nationwide rose this week for the sixth straight month, the first time there have been six consecutive monthly increases since the National Association of Realtors began tracking the data, CNBC’s Diana Olick reported. The pending home sales index is based on contracts signed, not on closings. The index rose 3.2 percent in July and is now 12 percent higher than it was a year ago. But most of the rise occurred in the West, not in the Northeast. And one-third of buyers in July were first-time homebuyers.