HOUSING

WASHINGTON -- A spate of housing reports this week offers clues to whether the U.S. housing recovery is for real.

Existing home sales shot up 7.6 per cent in April to an annual rate of 5.8 million - the fastest pace since November of last year, the U.S. National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Economists were quick to point out that November and April are anomalies because they coincided with the expiry of a generous federal tax credit. The credit was due to expire late last year, triggering a brief flurry of buying. It was later extended to April, providing another temporary boost to sales. With the credit gone, sales could ease in May and beyond.

On Tuesday, the Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 major U.S. cities is expected to show a 2.5 per cent rise in March, compared to the same month last year, according to a median of forecasts compiled by Bloomberg News. Prices, however, still have a long way to go. The index is down more than 30 per cent since the housing bubble burst.

Finally, Wednesday brings new home sales for April from the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales shot up 27 per cent in March to an annual pace of 411,000. Economists are looking for further improvement in April - again because it's the last month for homebuyers to get a big tax break. Economists are looking for 425,000 new home sales in April - an increase of roughly 3.4 per cent.