From the Star Ledger:

Housing slump seen stretching further

Signs are emerging the U.S. housing market’s long slump is likely to fester through the summer, and the real estate market may not recover for at least another year.

The latest report, the National Association of Realtors’ pending home sales index, slipped 4.7 percent in May to the third-lowest reading on record. The decline “suggests we are not out of the woods by any means,” said the trade group’s chief economist Lawrence Yun.

From the Boston Globe:

In May, property resales slid once again

Contracts to buy previously owned US homes declined more than forecast in May, a sign prices that have been sliding for more than two years have yet to touch bottom.

The index of pending home resales fell 4.7 percent following a revised 7.1 percent gain in April that was greater than previously reported, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday.

The prospect of further price declines may be discouraging offers, while rising mortgage rates and tougher lending standards make it harder to qualify for loans. The Federal Reserve reported non-real-estate consumer borrowing increased more than forecast in May, as Americans turned to credit cards after banks restricted access to home-equity lines of credit.

“Homes are much more affordable, but they’ll probably be even more affordable in six months’ to 12 months’ time, so it makes people reluctant to jump in,” Nigel Gault, chief US economist at Global Insight Inc. in Lexington, Mass., said. “The message is that last month’s big rise was not the signal that the market is starting to turn around. We’ve had a big correction this month.”

Economists had projected the pending sales index would fall 3 percent, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 38 economists. Estimates ranged from a drop of 6 percent to a 0.2 percent gain.

Pending resales were down 14 percent from May 2007, yesterday’s report showed.