By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Pending home sales in July rose 5.2% from downwardly revised June levels, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday, though the indicator shows the market for existing homes is still depressed after the expiration of a key tax benefit. As the availability of a home buyer tax credit worth as much as $8,000 expired at the end of April, the pending home sales index plunged 29.9% in May and another 2.8% in June. The NAR had initially reported a 2.6% drop for June. The July index came in better than the 1% monthly drop that economists had forecast, though sales in July were nonetheless 19.1% below those during the same month in 2009.
