The housing market is picking up some steam … maybe? In July, just over four million existing homes were sold, according to seasonally adjusted numbers out from the National Association of Realtors. That’s up 2% from the month before.

After months of sluggishness, does this mean the housing market is finally becoming unstuck?

The uptick in sales was welcome news for Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors. But, he said, it’s an uptick from a low point.

“Home sales still remain very sluggish overall,” he said.

Yun said there does seem to be more and more inventory out there: “The latest 1.55 million homes on the market will be the highest since the lockdown period in 2020.”

But it’s not because sellers are particularly enthusiastic, said Guy Cecala of Inside Mortgage Finance.

“ You hear about pent up demand, but there's also pent up sales. There are a lot of people my age in their sixties and seventies who have been looking to downsize, move somewhere else, and they've kind of been handcuffed in with low mortgage rates,” he said.

But they’ve decided enough is enough, and are starting to list anyway, even if it means a higher rate on their next mortgage. The increased supply is good for buyers, said Susan Wachter, a professor of real estate at the Wharton School.

“ We have, in fact, some slight — but I have to underline slight — improvement in affordability,” she said.

Wachter said home prices are rising more slowly than wages or inflation overall. But that improvement is, again, just an uptick from a low point.

“We have still near-historic lows in affordability,” she said.

And so, to answer the now years-old question of whether the housing market is still stuck?

“I think we’re still stuck,” said Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS.

She said it’ll likely stay that way, at least until home prices or mortgage rates fall significantly. But Sturtevant said economics alone can’t explain everything happening in the housing market. 

“Home buying and selling is a big financial decision, but it's also an emotional and a psychological decision. And frankly, there's a lot of anxiety,” she said.

Until would-be buyers start feeling more confident about the job market, Sturtevant said, they may just want to stay put.