The National Association of Realtors’ Pending Home Sales Index declined 1.3 percent to 89.7 in July, but is 14.4 percent above the July 2010 index, according to data released this morning.
Foreclosures made up roughly one-third of all home sales this spring. While that's a smaller share of sales from the previous quarter, it's six times the percentage of foreclosures in a healthy housing market.
Multifamily rentals are still booming, with apartment landlords among the only commercial property owners able to sign new tenants amid the sluggish economy.
According to John Burns Real Estate Consulting, housing prices are returning to conditions of earlier years in some parts of the country, including Atlanta, Las Vegas, and Oakland.
Toll Brothers' fiscal third-quarter earnings jumped 54 percent with a boost from a bigger tax benefit, but the home builder saw a double-digit drop in revenue as home deliveries fell.
Home prices have dropped so dramatically and demand for rental units has increased so much that it's now cheaper to buy a two-bedroom home than to rent one in most major U.S. cities.
