A bottom for housing? 
Welcome to the Know the Difference Minute for Wednesday, August 24th.
What a difference a year makes. Pending homes sales—a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, was off 1% from June to July according to the National Association of Realtors. Compared to a year ago, sales nationally were down nearly 20%.
Blame falls on rising mortgage rates which makes all homes less affordable. Higher rates have now pushed the typical mortgage payment up by 54% from a year ago. That’s pumped the brakes for many. Inventories for high end homes are improving, but it’s still clogged for entry-level. 
The possible silver lining is the 1% drop. Closed sales has fallen for 8 of the last 9 months, but the June to July drop was smaller than previous month and could be a sign that housing is at or near the bottom of the recent decline. 
I’m Dave Spano from Annex Wealth Management.  That is your Know the Difference Minute.