?EUR??,,????'??Home builders have been trimming prices and offering nonprice sales incentives to bring reluctant home buyers back into the market, and their efforts have brought results, at least for the short term,?EUR??,,????'?? said NAHB Chief Economist David Seiders. ?EUR??,,????'??However, the tightening of lending standards and problems in the financial sector, which deepened this month, will delay housing?EUR??,,????'???s recovery at least until mid- to late-2008.?EUR??,,????'??

The inventory of new homes for sale edged down slightly to 533,000 in July and the equivalent months?EUR??,,????'??? supply at the July sales pace was 7.5 months, down from 7.7 months in June.

Completed homes for sale were 33 percent of the inventory, while units still under construction represented 51 percent of the inventory and units for-sale that were permitted but not yet started represented 16 percent of the inventory level ?EUR??,,????'??+ essentially no change from the previous two months. The median length of time that completed homes were on the market was 6.1 months in July, up from 5.9 months in May.