In the next coming months, existing home sales are very likely to continue to decline as reports of pending deals dropped to the lowest in 6 years in August. The National Association of Realtors said its records of pending home sales (showing how many houses are currently under contract) fell to 97.7% from 101.2% from April to August. This is 13.3% less than the pending home sales last year. The index that shows the pending home sales was created in 2001 to show more completely the state of the housing market, rather than just reporting on homes that had just closed. The pending home sales records show what contracts will be signed, usually 1 to 2 months ahead of closing, predicting slightly the future state of the housing market. At the start of 2001, the index was set at 100. The lowest on record until this August was in September of 2001, when the terrorist attacks hurt buyers confidence. Home sales have been hit by tighter lending standards after all the attention being focused on the shady subprime lending practices that have led many homeowners to be forced to face foreclosures, as well as the depreciation in the housing market, and the lack of buyers on the market. According to the NAR, some transactions are being delayed because of the mortgage market, but they believe that if lending practices are better supervised then the housing market will improve. If the pending home sales market continues to stay low, more homeowners could face foreclosures if they are unable to sell their homes.