The housing market is a bit better lately. But considering the overall economic environment, the improvement still counts as underwhelming. On Thursday, the National Association of Realtors reported that its index of pending home sales-sales of previously owned homes that are under contract but haven't been finalized-bounced back in August, putting it 2.5% above its year-earlier level. That follows Wednesday's Commerce Department report showing that new-home sales jumped last month and last week's report that existing-home sales firmed in August. The biggest factor behind the pickup in housing has probably been the decline in interest rates. Earlier this month, the [...]
