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 t
happen between governor walker and the unions. and it s the same with libya. so the best they can do is continue to move forward and get their message out, but it s hard not to get lost in this cacophony of other voices and issues that are now around him. it s hard for us when we re covering these stories day-to-day and doom and gloom. but you talk to the people. what sense do you get from the callers about the implications here at home and overseas? a couple of weeks ago if you had asked me that question, i would have said there s a renewed sense of confidence that things are on the rebound, people looking forward to the spring housing market and hopeful that it will show some growth. now i think there s far more concern, concern that perhaps we ve entered a period of stagnation. this is all going to have an impact on the 2012 election. regardless of whether the obama administration can control the events that you re running through and outlining, they ll be held accountable for t