Some good news in an otherwise gloomy picture:

The number of new sales contracts on existing homes jumped a seasonally adjusted 6.3% in December as buyers took advantage of lower mortgage rates and falling prices, a real estate trade group said Tuesday.The pending home sales index rose 6.3% in December and is now up 2.1% compared with a year earlier, the National Association of Realtors said. The increase points to a healthy gain in existing-home sales in January and February. 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.

–U.S. Pending Home Sales Up 6.3%: Realtors Say [MarketWatch]