Housing market is a mixed bag

The Phoenix-area housing market continues to settle. The impact of the federal homebuyer tax credit on sales and the loan-modification program on foreclosures is still difficult to fully determine. Indicators from the region's housing market are mixed. The number of foreclosures climbed, but the number of foreclosure homes resold by lenders didn't. New-home sales sagged, but the median price of all home sales ticked up above expectations. Here are the latest key housing numbers for the Phoenix area: • Foreclosures climbed about 20 percent, to 4,894, last month, according to the Information Market. But pre-foreclosures, or notice of trustee sales, fell 5 percent, to 6,170. The number of foreclosures canceled by lenders climbed by nearly 1,000 in June. Overall, pending foreclosures in metro Phoenix dropped 6 percent, to 42,324, last month.

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