The statistics on home sales continue to ping-pong between good news and not-so-good news. In April, The Wall Street Journal reported the good news that existing home sales rose 3.7 percent in March over the previous month and sales volumes had increased in six of the past eight months. The same article contained the not-so-good news that sale prices continue to drop and sellers shouldn't expect prices to return to "boom-era values" anytime soon. The National Association of Realtors[R] (NAR), Chicago, reported that in March of this year, distressed home sales--those that sold at discounts of 20 percent or more--made up more than 40 percent of all sales, the highest percentage in two years.
