Pending home sales rose strongly in May with all regions experiencing gains from a year ago, pointing to higher housing activity in the second half of the year, according to the National Association of Realtors®.The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 8.2 percent to 88.8 in May from an upwardly revised 82.1 in April and is 13.4 percent higher than the 78.3 reading in May 2010. The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.This is the first time since April 2010 that contract activity was above year-ago levels, and the monthly gain was the strongest increase since last November when the index rose 10.6 percent.Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the improvement bodes well for home prices. “Absorption of inventory is the key to price improvement, and this solid gain in contract signings implies that home values in many localities are or will soon be stabilizing as inventories get absorbed at a faster pace,” he said. “Some markets have made a rapid turnaround, going from soft activity to contract signings rising by more than 30 percent from a year ago, including areas such as Hartford, Conn.; Indianapolis; Minneapolis; Houston; and Seattle."Click here to get loan information before the rates go up. To get started on viewing San Diego County homes, condos, investment properties, pre-foreclosures, bank owned foreclosures (REO’s) or thinking of selling your property, please contact County Properties today for free counseling at (619) 540-5811 or (619) 301-0200 .New Pro-Property Search. County Properties will setup a customized search for you by our professional REALTOR® Team. Sit back relax and shop at home! We will make changes to your Pro-Property Search any time you like, just let us know. Have fun!By the way…if you know of someone who would appreciate the level of service in real estate we provide, please call me or have them go to www.CountyProperties.net/ and I’ll be happy to follow up and take great care of them.