Nationwide sales of existing homes rose 3.1 percent off a ten year low last month, according to the latest National Association of Realtor report.
It's the highest level of existing home sales in five months.
Still, resales were well below July 2007 - which are down 13.2 percent nationwide.
The rise in sales was more than forecast and comes on the heels of an encouraging Pending Home Sales repost issued earlier this month.
Driving the rise in the numbers of existing home sales is a significant drop in home prices. According to the NAR, the median price of an existing home has slipped 7.1 percent from last year to $212,400.00.
The overall outlook for housing still remains grim: while the recent increases in the number of pending and existing home sales are encouraging, increasing numbers of foreclosures, a tougher economic environment, tighter lending standards, and a glut of inventory continue to weigh on the market.
In fact, total housing inventory rose 3.9 percent last month to a record 11.2-month supply of homes for sale. The NAR states that that a 5 to 6 month supply of homes is an indicator of a stable housing market.
In the South, existing home sales actually fell 0.5 percent last month for a year-over-year decline of 18.1 percent. The median home price also slipped 3.5 percent to $179,300.00.
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