Dive Summary:

• The National Association of Realtors reports that contracts for home purchases slowed a bit in August, though they still were well ahead of August 2011.
• The group's Pending Home Sales Index stood at 99.2 last month, below July's 101.9, but July was the best month seen for home contracts since April of 2010.
• Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, was unworried by the decline, saying, "The performance in month-to-month contract signings has been uneven with ongoing shortages of lower-priced inventory in much of the country, and across most price ranges in the West, but activity has remained at notably higher levels this year."

From the release:

After reaching a two-year peak, pending home sales fell in August but are at elevated levels compared with a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. ...