WASHINGTON (

TheStreet

) -- Pending home sales fell 1.8% in September according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.

An index that measures the number of contracts to buy previously-owned homes in the U.S. fell to a reading of 80.9, worse than expected and 24.9% lower than in the year-earlier month.

Economists had expected the index to rise by 2.5%, following an upwardly revised 82.4 in August.

Pending-home sales are viewed as an indicator of future home sales.

"Existing-home sales have shown some improvement but the foreclosure moratorium is likely to cause some disruption and contribute to an uneven sales performance in the months ahead," said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. "Nonetheless, there appears to be a pent-up demand that eventually will be unleashed as banks resolve their issues with foreclosures and the labor market improves. However, tight credit and appraisals coming in below a negotiated price continue to constrain the market."

"Strength was relatively broad based," noted Deutsche Bank analysts following the August report. "As we have noted previously, decade low mortgage rates and near record highs in affordability should help stabilize sales in the near term, however it will take meaningful improvement in the labor market to drive housing going forward."

The

Labor Department said earlier Friday that the U.S. economy added jobs in October for the first time since May though the nationwide unemployment rate was unchanged at 9.6%.

>>Economy Adds 151,000 Jobs In October

Sales of newly-built homes rose a better-than-expected 6.6% in September, while

sales of previously-occupied homes rebounded 10% in the same month. Both reports came in far better than expected but remain substantially lower than year-earlier levels.

>> New-Home Sales Rise 6.6% in September

The housing market has been under tremendous pressure for some time, and demand fell further after the

springtime expiration of federal tax credits for homebuyers

that offered credits up to $8,000 for first-time buyers and $6,500 for those buying new primary residences.

>>4 Top Homebuilder Stocks: Life After the Tax Credit

Stocks in the homebuilder sector were mostly higher Friday. The

SPDR S&P Homebuilders

(XHB) - Get Report

and

iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction

(ITB) - Get Report

, exchange-traded funds that track the homebuilder sector, were up 1.2% and 0.8%, respectively. The major indexes were mixed, with the

SPDR S&P 500

(SPY) - Get Report

higher by 0.1%, the

SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average

(DIA) - Get Report

lower by 0.3% and the

PowerShares QQQ Trust

(QQQQ)

down 0.2%.

>>Homebuilder Stocks: Behind the Numbers

Among specific homebuilders,

Lennar

(LEN) - Get Report

edged 0.3% lower while

PulteGroup

(PHM) - Get Report

gained 1.9%.

-- Written by Miriam Marcus Reimer in New York.

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Miriam Reimer

.

>To follow the writer on Twitter, go to

@miriamsmarket

.

>To submit a news tip, send an email to:

tips@thestreet.com

.

READERS ALSO LIKE:

>> 17 REIT Earnings: Behind the Numbers

>> 14 REITs Increasing Dividends Annually

>> 18 Overbought Stocks to Sell Now

>> Bankruptcy Watch: 20 Riskiest Restaurant Stocks

>>See our new stock quote page.

Get more stock ideas and investing advice on our sister site,

Stockpickr.com.

Disclosure: TheStreet's editorial policy prohibits staff editors and reporters from holding positions in any individual stocks.