By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Buyers returned to the market for U.S. preowned homes in December after a federal tax credit was reinstated, according to a survey of real estate agents released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. The pending home sales index rose 1% in December after plunging 16.4% in November, with buyers reacting first to the expiration and then to the return of the tax credit, NAR data showed. The index is up 10.9% compared with December 2008. The gain in the pending sales index portends a similar gain in existing home sales for January, which will be reported in three weeks. In December, existing home sales fell 16.7%.
