Pending US home sales rise 2.1 percent in Feb

WASHINGTON: The National Association of Realtors says pending U.S. home sales rose in February from a record low a month earlier as buyers took advantage of deeply discounted prices and low interest rates.

The real estate group said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for previously occupied homes rose 2.1 percent _ in line with expectations _ to 82.1 in February from January's record low of 80.4.

The index, which started in 2001, tracks signed contracts to purchase existing homes. Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal.

Because of falling home prices and mortgage rates, homeownership is more affordable than it's been since at least 1970, when the Realtor group began tracking it.