Sales lift but if you can find one, the prices are still 'too damn high'

Pending home sales in July, covering existing homes, rose .9% m/o/m, better than the expected drop of 1%. They still remain down though almost 14% y/o/y. Contract signings rose in the West and South but fell in the Northeast and Midwest. Specifically with the West, which led the gain, the NAR said "Interestingly, the West region experienced a meaningful price decline in the past year and buyers are quickly returning as a result."

To this point, yesterday's S&P's CoreLogic home price data for June saw the y/o/y price declines almost solely in the West led by San Francisco, Seattle, Vegas, Phoenix, Denver, Portland, LA and San Diego.