Here’s the Arizona Republic‘s take on the National Association of Realtor’s report.

Nationally, the median price of an existing house climbed less than 1 percent during the past year to reach $230,000 last month. A year ago, it was $228,000.

The median price of a used Valley home was $265,000 last month. That is $10,000 higher than July 2005’s figure but a $2,000 dip from June 2006.

Despite the weakness in the U.S. housing market, metro Phoenix is doing better than average. That’s good.

(Newspapers rarely look at the bright side. An “optimistic reporter” is an oxymoron. I think an optimistic reporter would be drummed out of the corps.)

Home sales in Arizona, however, tapper off in the fall and crash in December. It happens most every year.

So, plan on seeing a ton of negative news until January when sales take off again.