In January, pending home sales plunged by 7.7% M/M in January, while a decline by 3.5% M/M was expected. In the previous month, pending home sales showed an unexpected rise, but the figure has been downwardly revised from 6.3% M/M to 4.8% M/M. Looking at January’s details, sales were very weak in the northeast (12.7% M/M), south (-11.9% M/M) and Midwest (9.3% M/M), while sales rose slightly in the west (2.5% M/M). These data indicate that the uptick in December was only a correction and an improvement is not yet around the corner as credit conditions remain tight and unemployment is rising rapidly.