Pending home sales in January fall 7.7% to new low

WASHINGTON -- An index of pending home sales, which tracks signed contracts to purchase existing homes, sank to a record low in January as economic woes turned buyers away from the staggering housing market.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for previously owned homes for January fell 7.7% to 80.4 from a downwardly revised December reading of 87.1.

The previous low of 82.5 was set in November. January's reading was far worse than the 85.1 economists expected, according to Thomson Reuters.

Typically there is a one- to two-month lag between a contract and a done deal.