Dive summary:

• The National Association of Realtors' index of pending home sales went down from November to December, but the organization was still happy to note that last month still marked the 20th consecutive month in which pending sales were up from the same month the year before.
• The index, which reports on contracts signed, not closings stood at 101.7 last month, lower than November's 106.3, but it had been at 95.1 in December 2011.
• The realtors' group blamed the decline on a shrinking inventory of existing homes in some areas, but its prediction still is for 2013 to match 2012's 9% increase in pending-home sales.

From the article:

"Much of the West is already a seller's market for homes priced under a million dollars, but conditions are much more balanced in the Northeast." ...