Are home sales doing better, or worse?

I've seen several articles on home sales over the past few days. Here's one:

High affordability continued attracting first-time buyers and investors into Inland Southern California's housing market last month, bumping home sales to their highest level in about three years and preventing home prices from falling further.

And in a less tangible measure, consumer confidence is also up:

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo confidence index increased to 18 in August, the highest level since June 2008.

But don't break out the champagne yet:

[A] reading below 50 means most builders surveyed viewed conditions as poor. The gauge reached a record low of 8 in January.

The two articles above were from the Riverside Press-Enterprise. And it's probably no surprise that Housing Kaboom isn't breaking out the champagne either.

26% The number of underwater mortgages in the US (estimated to hit nearly 50% by late 2010)

42% The number of underwater mortgages in California. And yes, it's higher here in the IE!

And a recent survey showed that Riverside is the tenth worst housing market in the United States. The worst was Detroit, and if Inland Empire residents are feeling sorry for themselves, check out Detroit housing prices. Because it's an Associated Press article, I have to be careful about how much I quote, so I'll restrict myself to a few numbers to keep the AP happy:

...$65,000....$10,000...$2,000...

Yes, those are actual home prices.