The superheated housing market may be cooling a bit, numbers released yesterday by a real estate industry group suggest.

The National Association of Realtors' pending home sales index shows that U.S. home resales that were pending in May slipped from April. The index stood at 124.9, or 2 percent below April's reading of 127.5.

The numbers, however, still are close to the index record of 128.1 in October last year.

"We're looking at a banner year for the housing market," says David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "The level of activity is still very, very high. But the dip does tell me that we're starting to run out of a little steam."

The index covers pending sales of existing homes, including single-family houses, condominiums and co-ops. A pending sale is when the contract has been signed, but the sale has not closed.

Realtors across the country tell the NAR that houses are taking a bit longer to sell, Lereah says. Nor are bidding wars for properties nearly as rabid as they've been in recent months.

In sizzling markets from California to Florida, some houses still sell in a day or two, with 15 bidders vying for desirable properties, he says.

But even some hot regions — Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago, Las Vegas — are seeing houses stay on the market longer, with prices not rising as rapidly as before.

That should be good for the market, Lereah says, and suggests "a soft landing" is in store for buyers and sellers. He adds that there are no indications that "we're in a dangerous bubble," and real estate "still makes a healthy investment."

Some economists say that housing prices in some markets have risen too rapidly in recent years and may face declines or a period of flat prices.