biggest threat here. craig? >> nick, thanks. appreciate that. new numbers show a recovery in the housing market may be far off. that's because the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes fell sharply in april to its lowest point in seven months. let's get the details now from cnbc's diana olick live in washington for us this afternoon. diana, what do we know about the drop here? what is behind this steep drop in pending home sales? >> well, craig, it was really a big surprise to a lot of the forecasters. this drop in the pending home sales is an indicator of the future of closings, these are contracts signed. it was down over 11% in april. april is the height of the spring housing market. we thought we would get a bump up. we didn't. it flies in the face of the other news this week, mortgage rates, the 30-year fixed, is down to its lowest level of the year. you would think that would prompt people to buy. but it is not the mortgage rate, it is the credible availability and the lack of confidence in today's housing market. >> pending home sales, do we know at this point the