COSTELLO: Yes, we're talking about number this breaking news. We're learning July home sales are up 2.3 percent. Alison Kosik is live at the New York Stock Exchange. 2.3 percent doesn't sound like much but it is positive news.</s>ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is positive news. Up is better than down, especially you're looking at 2.3 percent was from June to July. If you look at the numbers from May to June, that number actually fell, 5 percent. Existing home sales. So yes, you're seeing kind of this uneven recovery in the housing market continued. 2.3 percent is still good, especially since when we talk about existing home sales, Carol these account for about 90 percent of all the sales in the housing market. So this is good momentum. We also found out that the median price of these previously owned homes climbed more than 9 percent compared to last year to around $187,000. As far as the market reaction, it did help the market come back a bit from its earlier losses, the Dow trading down only about ten points. It had been down about 30 points just before the number came out. We're also getting a bit of a glimpse of New Home Sales which come out tomorrow. Luxury home builders, Toll Brothers just released its earnings this morning. Its shares right now are up 3 percent giving other home builders a boost, too. New home sales make up only 10 percent, but it's good to see this momentum picking back up. The trick though is to see if it continues the next month and the next month. Of course, you still have to see the jobs market recovery because housing and jobs go hand in hand. If you don't have a job, it's going to be hard to pay your mortgage or buy a new home.</s>COSTELLO: That's for sure. Alison Kosik, live at the New York Stock Exchange. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts after a short break.
Existing Home Sales Up 2.3 Percent in July