Housing Market, August | featured news

U.S. consumer sentiment improved in early August to the highest in three months as sales at retailers and low mortgage rates spurred Americans to boost their buying plans, a survey showed on Friday.

New single-family home sales in the United States fell in August to a 6-month low but the supply of homes available on the market dropped to a record low.

The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in August for the second straight month but remained far below last year's pace.

Sales of U.S. homes rose 7.6% in August -- recovering from their steep descent in July, when the end of a popular government stimulus program drove sales to their lowest levels in more than a decade.

Construction of new homes and apartments surged 10.5 percent in August from a month earlier, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That's the highest level since April.

The August data from a home price index suggested that a housing recovery is taking hold.