New single-family home sales in the U.S. rose 1.0% on a monthly basis in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 708,000 units, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. On an annual basis, however, new-home sales plunged by 27.2%.

Likewise, existing-home sales increased by 2.0% from the previous month and were up 1.5% year over year, according to the National Association of Realtors, or NAR. Although the inventory is starting to pick up, home sales growth is mostly taking place in the upper-end market as opposed to the slower growth in mid- to lower-tier areas, due to a limited amount of starter homes available, NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a recent release.

"Although we shouldn't expect to see home prices drop in the coming months, there is a chance that they will level off as inventory continues to gradually improve," Yun added.

Privately owned, single-unit housing starts were down 4.5% month over month in July, but were up 11.7% on a yearly basis.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index continued to increase in June, rising 1.8% month over month after seasonal adjustment and increasing 18.6% on an annual basis.