WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Pending home sales rose 1.7% in November for a third month of gains, with affordability attracting buyers, the National Association of Realtors reported Friday. The pending-home-sales index reached 106.4 in November - the highest level since April 2010, when buyers were trying to make a tax-credit deadline -- from 104.6 in October, the trade association said. Pending sales were up 9.8% from November 2011, for the 19th month of annual gains. "Even with market frictions related to the mortgage process, home contract activity continues to improve," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, in a statement. By region, November saw pending-home-sale gains of 5.2% in the Northeast, 4.2% in the West, and 0.1% in the Midwest. The South was unchanged. A sale is listed as pending when the contract has been signed but the transaction has not closed, and an index of 100 is equal to the average level of contract activity during 2001.