The bad news is, the pace of contract closings for “used” homes in America was more or less unchanged last month.

That was also the good news in Thursday’s update from the NAR.

At this juncture for US housing, anything that’s not overtly foreboding counts as a “good” outcome, or least an acceptable one.

That’s the context for a marginal decline in the pace of existing home sales, which ran at a four million annual rate in August, virtually the same as July. Economists expected a 2.5% drop.

As the figure reminds you, this series is mired in a multi-year slump. About the best you can say for it is that it’s not getting worse.

Data released earlier this week suggested new home sales rose dramatically in August, and as I’ve been keen to point out on any number of occasions over the past two years, the fact that buyers can get a new construction for the same price — and in a lot of cases for a lower price — than a comparable resale property could impede a recovery in existing home sales.

Even after rising to a four-month high, the median new home price in August was nearly $10,000 less than the median existing home price.

As the figure shows, August marked the third straight month during which resale properties “traded” at a premium to new construction.

Caveats apply. Most obviously, builders are desperate, sitting as they are with the most unsold inventory since the subprime bust. In an effort to sell down that inventory, they’re cutting prices and offering all manner of incentives from rate buy-downs to — I don’t know — Williams Sonoma gift baskets. In addition, the chart’s apples to oranges in the sense that it’s the spread between government data (the new home sale price series) and the NAR tally of resale prices.

Still, this is well worth a mention. It speaks to a lot of the key dynamics bedeviling US housing. Homeowners still haven’t come around to the reality that they missed the top. There are an estimated 500,000 more sellers than buyers currently. The days of bidding wars are over, but sellers are reluctant to concede that and they’re commensurately slow to lower asking prices. That’s allowing builders to outcompete them for scarce buyers.

At the same time, rates are still high enough that even homeowners willing to sell aren’t especially motivated. Most have very favorable mortgage rates and a lot of them would just as soon stay put if they can’t get their initial asking price. Builders, on the other hand, want to get out from under their inventory. Because that inventory has a carrying cost. So they’re highly motivated.

The figure above reminds you that the median existing home price hit a record in June. Although prices are down since then, the YoY gains are ongoing. In fact, August was the first month since December during which the YoY pace of price appreciation picked up.

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun offered some predictable color on Thursday. “Home sales have been sluggish over the past few years due to elevated mortgage rates and limited inventory,” he said. “However, mortgage rates are declining and more inventory is coming to market, which should boost sales in the coming months.”

With all due respect, we’ve been hearing some version of that narrative as it relates to the resale US housing market every month for years. Who knows, though. Maybe we’re finally on the cusp of a sustainable inflection. Fingers crossed.