The Pending Homes Sales Index of the National Association of Realtors declined a bit in August, but it still has solid numbers on a year-to-year basis.

Pending home sales fell slightly in August, compared to July, but have increased on an annual basis for 12 straight months, the National Association of Realtors reports.

The Pending Home Sales Index dropped to 109.4 from 110.9 in July, a decline of 1.4 percent. On a year-to-year basis, however, it is 6.1 percent higher than the 103.1 reading in August 2014.

An index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001, the year the PHSI began, the NAR said. The Pending Home Sales Index, a leading indicator for the housing sector, is based on pending sales of existing homes. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed.

"Pending sales have leveled off since mid-summer, with buyers being bounded by rising prices and few available and affordable properties within their budget," Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, said. "Even with existing housing supply barely budging all summer and no relief coming from new construction, contract activity is still higher than earlier this year and a year ago."

The national median existing home price is expected to increase 5.8 percent in 2015 to $220,300, Yun said, and the NAR predicts total existing home sales this year will increase 7.0 percent to around 5.28 million.

Regionally, the PHSI in the Northeast fell 5.6 percent to 93.3 in August, but is 8.9 percent above a year ago. In the Midwest the index declined 0.4 percent to 107.4, and is still 6.5 percent above August 2014.

Pending home sales in the South dropped 2.2 percent to 121.5, but are still 4.1 percent higher annually. The West rose 1.8 percent to 104.9, and is 7.6 percent higher than a year ago.

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Housing's share of national gross domestic product declined slightly in the second quarter, but its main contributing component has increased for the third straight quarter.

The GDP expanded by nearly 4 percent in the second quarter, the National Association of Home Builders said. Housing's overall share of GDP was 15.31 percent, a slight decline from its usual 17-18 percent contribution.

Housing is determined by two components, and the more important of these is called residential fixed investment. RFI includes construction of new single-family and multifamily structures, residential remodeling, production of manufactured homes and brokers' fees.

RFI increased 3.21 percent, the third consecutive quarterly gain. However, it is below the historic RFI average of 5 percent.

"This is the highest quarterly rate for RFI since the first quarter of 2008," the NAHB said. "The second quarter growth for RFI added 0.3 points to the headline GDP growth rate. GDP would have expanded 3.6 percent, absent the RFI contribution."

The second impact of housing on the GDP is housing services. This includes gross rents paid by renters and utility payments. For the second quarter, housing services was 12.1 percent, which is within the historical average of 12-13 percent for this component.

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