The US housing market showed further signs of weakness on Tuesday as the closely -watched index of pending home sales dropped by 4 per cent in November to a record low as rising job cuts and eroding confidence deterred buyers from signing new contracts.

The data, released by the National Association of Realtors, which reflects deals that have been signed but not completed, was worse than economists expected and fell to its lowest point since 2001 when the index was created. Pending home sales in November declined by 5.3 per cent on the year.