The number of US homebuyers who agreed and signed sales contracts to purchase previously owned homes rose posting the largest monthly increase in more than seven years and is the third consecutive month of increase.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that its Pending Home Sales Index in April surged 6.7 percent to 90.3 after a 3.2 percent jump in March. This was far above the analysts' forecasts, as surveyed by Briefing.com, of 0.5%. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001, when pending sales rose 9.2 percent.

Pending home sales are a forward-looking indicator since many of the contracts don't result in completed deals for many weeks or months.

The index was 3.2 percent above April 2009 levels and has increased for three straight months after hitting a record low in January.

Regionally, the Pending Home Sales Index rose 32.6 percent in the Northeast and 9.8 percent in the Midwest which largely contributed to the overall surge. Sales contracts increased 1.8 percent in April from a month earlier in the West, but dropped 1 0.2 percent in the South.

“Housing affordability conditions have been at historic highs, but now the $8,000 first-time buyer tax credit is beginning to impact the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist in a prepared statement. "Since first-time buyers must finalize their purchase by Nov. 30 to get the credit, we expect greater activity in the months ahead, and that should spark more sales by repeat buyers."