“The good news is the trough is behind us…[but] the fundamental situation remains bleak.”
–UniCredit economist Harm Bandholz on U.S. home prices.
The Wall Street Journal reports that existing home sales increased 3.1 percent in July – the largest monthly increase in over a year – while rising mortgage rates and tighter lending standards threaten to stall the housing market’s recovery.
Not everyone thinks we’re in the clear yet though.
“Sales are down substantially from the peak, and they seem to be bouncing around what looks like a bottom,” Robert Barbera, chief economist for ITG tells the New York Times, citing concerns that much of the bump in sales might be attributed to buyers snapping up foreclosed homes and extraordinary deals.
Here in Chicago, home sales were down 20.9% in July 2008 compared with July 2007, according to Crain’s.