Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Rise

As reported by Bloomberg.com - "Sales of Existing U.S. Homes Probably Climbed as Prices Fell":

Sales of existing U.S. homes probably climbed in July to the highest level in 10 months, signaling the housing crisis that crippled the world's largest economy is easing, economists said before a report today.

Purchases rose 2.1 percent to a 5 million annual rate, according to the median forecast of 64 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. It would be the fourth consecutive gain, capping the longest stretch of increases since 2004.

As noted in our previous post, "Housing Affordability", many factors are contributing to the immediate changing housing conditions:

Foreclosure-driven declines in prices, government credits for first-time buyers and near-record-low borrowing costs may keep stoking demand, helping the economy recover from the worst recession since the 1930s. Ongoing job losses are a reminder that more Americans will probably lose their homes, indicating a rebound will be slow to take hold.

'We've begun a recovery in home sales,' said Ellen Zentner, senior economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York. 'This is the best time to buy a house if you can qualify for credit. We expect to see continued, but gradual, improvement.'

Do you think this trend of stabilizing home sales and prices will continue or is this just a minor positive blip in a gloomy housing future still to come?