Americans signed the most contracts to buy homes in July than at any other point in the past two years, further evidence of a housing recovery. The National Association of Realtors said its index of sales agreements for previously occupied homes jumped 2.4 per cent in July to 101.7 - higher than June's reading of 99.3 and the highest reading since April 2010. A reading of 100 is considered healthy. The index bottomed at 75.88 in June 2010.
