Pending Home Sales Hit 2-Year High

(Stock prices added.)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Pending home sales soared in August, reaching a two-year high.

The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales jumped 6.4% in August to 103.8, its seventh straight monthly gain. Economists had expected the index to rise to 98.6.

Sales also spiked 12% on a year-over-year basis.

The index is a barometer of future sales, as there is a one-to-two month lag between a contract and done deal.

On Tuesday it was reported that home prices jumped 1.2% in July, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index. This was its sixth straight monthly climb.

In related news, earlier today KB Home(KBH Quote) was downgraded by Credit Suisse, sending shares tumbling 5% to $15.76.

Shares of rival homebuilders were also in the red. Lennar(LEN Quote) dropped 4% to $13.68, Toll Brothers(TOL Quote) declined 2.5% to $19.07, Plute Homes(PHM Quote) was off 2% to $10.75 and MDC(MDC Quote) sank 2.5% to $33.84.

-- Reported by Jeanine Poggi in New York

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