Prior month +3.8% revised lower to 3.5%Pending home sales for the month of June -5.4% versus -0.5% estimatePending home sales index 72.5 versus 76.6 last month.Looking at the regional sales, all 4 sectors showed declines: Northeast: Existing home sales -3.0% m/m vs. +2.2% y/yMidwest: Existing home sales -8.9% m/m vs. +0.3% y/ySouth: Existing home sales -4.1% m/m vs. -0.9% y/yWest: Existing home sales -4.7% m/m vs. +1.1% y/yNAHB housing market index for July came in at 34 versus 35 estimate. Prior month was 36.0.*The Pending Home Sales Index is a leading indicator for the housing sector, based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, though the sale usually is finalized within one or two months of signing.Pending contracts are good early indicators of upcoming sales closings. However, the amount of time between pending contracts and completed sales is not identical for all home sales. Variations in the length of the process from pending contract to closed sale can be caused by issues such as buyer difficulties with obtaining mortgage financing, home inspection problems, or appraisal issues.The index is based on a sample that covers about 40% of multiple listing service data each month. In developing the model for the index, it was demonstrated that the level of monthly sales-contract activity parallels the level of closed existing-home sales in the following two months.An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, which was the first year to be examined. By coincidence, the volume of existing-home sales in 2001 fell within the range of 5.0 to 5.5 million, which is considered normal for the current U.S. population. This article was written by Greg Michalowski at investinglive.com.