Home Buyers Stayed Home This Winter

Bendix Anderson
Updated
Pending Homes Sales were dwon, as would-ve buyers stayed home due to snow.
Pending Homes Sales were dwon, as would-ve buyers stayed home due to snow.

Looking to buy a home? You probably didn't have a lot of competition last January. The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes shrank as cold weather and a slack economy kept many potential buyers home, according to the Pending Homes Sales Index, created by the National Association of Realtors.

The Pending Home Sales Index fell 7.6 percent to 90.4, from an upwardly revised 97.8 in December. Analysts had expected a slight rise. January was the third month in a row that the index has been flat or falling.

That means fewer people bidding up home prices -- bad news if you're selling, but good news if you're in the market to buy.

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