Pending Sales of Existing Homes in U.S. Rose 2.1% in

April 1 (Bloomberg) -- The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes unexpectedly rose in February, reinforcing signs that the housing slump in its fourth year may be near a bottom.

The index of signed purchase agreements, or pending home resales, gained 2.1 percent to 82.1, from 80.4 in January, the National Association of Realtors said today in Washington. The February reading was 1.4 percent lower than the 83.3 level in the same month a year earlier.

Foreclosure-driven declines in prices and lower mortgage rates will lure more buyers and help trim the property glut, easing the drag from the housing recession. Economists project the downturn may ease as efforts to thaw credit and offer tax breaks to first-time buyers begin to take hold.

"The sharp decline in prices is helping to improve affordability,” Joseph Brusuelas, a director at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania, said before the report. “There are small signs that the housing market is moving toward stability.”

Pending sales were estimated to be unchanged after an originally reported drop of 7.7 percent in January, according to the median forecast of 37 economists in a Bloomberg News survey.

Estimates ranged from a drop of 3 percent to a gain of 5.6 percent.

Pending resales are considered a leading indicator because they track contract signings. The Realtors’ existing-home sales report tallies closings, which typically occur a month or two later. The Realtors group, whose pending sales data go back to January 2001, started publishing the index in March 2005