The latest industry news offers an encouraging outlook for homebuyers and sellers:
• Sales of existing homes rose 4.9 percent in May to the highest level since October, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
• Sales of new U.S. homes rose in May to the highest level in six years, providing the strongest signal yet that housing is recovering from a recent slowdown.
• Pending home sales rose 6.1 percent in May, the largest month-over-month gain on the index since April 2010. (NAR)
• The economy created a much-higher-than-expected 288,000 jobs in June, and the jobless rate dropped to its lowest level since September 2008. (U.S. Labor Department)
