Pending home sales continue to rise for fifth month

For the fifth month in a row, sales of pending homes -- signed contracts for existing homes -- unexpectedly jumped 3.6 percent in June, the National Association of Realtors announced Tuesday.

Further, the pending home sales index is now up 6.7 percent since June 2008, with the NAR's pending home sales index now at 94.6. The last time pending home sales recorded five consecutive monthly gains was in 2003.