Previously owned home sales reached a 2014 high with a 2.4 percent increase in July, while the sales rate for new homes moved 2.4 percent in the opposite direction over the same period, according to reports from the National Association of Realtors and the Commerce Department, respectively. While existing home sales are approaching normal, pre-recession levels, new homes remain at roughly 50 percent of normal activity.

These days, the only consistent thing about the housing market is the inconsistency.

The sales rate for new homes fell 2.4 percent from June to July, reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 412,000 units, according to an August 25 report from the Commerce Department. The sales rate improved by 12.3 percent year-over-year, however, gaining on a July 2013 estimate of 367,000 units.

Industry figures show that a normal sales rate would be closer to 800,000 units, meaning that sales are barely above half of what they would be if the market was functioning properly.

In contrast, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing home sales increased in July to their highest annual pace of the year, rising 2.4 percent in July to their highest level since September and reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.15 million. A normal sales rate, based on population size and recent improvements in the job market, would be in the 5.5-million unit range, much closer to current levels than the new home market.

"The number of houses for sale is higher than a year ago, and tamer price increases are giving prospective buyers less hesitation about entering the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "More people are buying homes compared to earlier in the year and this trend should continue with interest rates remaining low and apartment rents on the rise."

Notably, distressed homes, which include foreclosures and short sales, accounted for nine percent of July sales, down from 15 percent a year ago and the first time they were in the single-digits since NAR started tracking the category in October 2008.

New home sales estimates are prone to volatility and wide margins of error, and recent improvements in homebuilder confidence and housing construction could make the July decline out to be an outlier. For now, though, the market continues to sputter through a recovery that can't quite get off the ground.