Home sales figures: A bit of good, a bit of bad

The National Association of Realtors last week released their latest home-sales data. For once, there was some good news. But, of course, the report contained a lot of bad news, too. You can read it all here.

First, the good news: The sales of existing homes — which include single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums and co-ops — rose 2 percent in May, probably because buyers are finally responding to some of the lower prices now available.

This news isn’t entirely good. Home sales are still down 15.9 percent from the same time one year earlier.

And in even worse news for sellers, the national median housing price stood at $208,600 in May, down 6.3 percent a year ago, when that price was $222,700.

If you’re looking for evidence that the housing slump is nearing its end, you won’t find it in the Realtors’ report.