By Rex Nutting
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - A forward-looking gauge of home buying declined sharply in January, dropping to the lowest seasonally adjusted level since last April, an industry trade group reported Thursday. The pending home sales index fell a seasonally adjusted 7.6% in January after a revised 0.8% gain in December. The index remained 8.8% higher than in January 2009. The index tracks sales contracts signed on previously owned homes.
