Pending home sales drop to lowest in a year, down in January

``House hunters signed 2.8 percent fewer contracts to buy existing homes in January compared with December, although December's read was revised slightly higher, according to the National Association of Realtors. The group's so-called pending home sales index is now just 0.4 percent higher than January 2016, and this is the lowest reading since then. Pending home sales are an indicator of closed sales in February and March.''