Mortgage market sees mixed results amidst interest rate fluctuations.

Pending home sales rose just 0.8% month to month in February, according to the National Association of Realtors, as higher mortgage rates took some of the juice out of the housing recovery. Sales were 21.1% lower than February last year. However, sales moved higher month to month in every region except the West, where they fell 2.4%. The affordable U.S. regions – the Midwest and South – are leading the recovery, while home prices have eased considerably since last summer, but housing is still expensive by historical standards.