The number of new sales contracts on existing homes fell a seasonally adjusted 7.7% in January amid job losses and weak consumer confidence, a real estate trade group said Tuesday. The index is now down 6.4% from a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said. "We expect similarly soft home sales in the near term, but buyers are expected to respond to much improved affordability conditions and from the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit" in the stimulus package, said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. January's pending sales rose in the West, and fell in the Northeast, South and Midwest. In December, the pending home sales index rose 4.8%, compared with a prior estimate of a 6.3% gain. The index is based on signed sales contracts, which usually occur a month or two before the sale is closed, when sales are reported in the NAR's existing-home sales report.

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