Minutes of the Fed's latest meeting, due later today, will be a reminder that policy makers are monitoring data such as housing to determine whether the world's largest economy needs more stimulus.

Fed's View

The central bank has said it will "closely monitor" economic data and financial developments, according to a statement after its July 31-Aug. 1 gathering, at which policy makers determined they "will provide additional accommodation as needed" to accelerate the expansion.

"Despite some further signs of improvement, the housing sector remains depressed," the Fed statement also said.

Existing-home sales have improved since reaching a low of 3.39 million at an annual rate in July 2010. In the buildup to the subprime lending collapse and recession, purchases reached a peak of 7.25 million in September 2005.

Sales of new homes, counted when contracts are signed, may have rebounded to a 365,000 annual rate in July from 350,000 the prior month, the survey median showed ahead of Commerce Department figures due tomorrow.

Newly constructed houses accounted for 6.7 percent of the residential market in 2011, down from a high of 15 percent during the boom of the past decade. Resales made up the rest.

Improving Profits

Construction companies are noting the increase in demand. PulteGroup Inc., the largest U.S. homebuilder by revenue, posted a better-than-estimated profit and a 32 percent jump in orders in the second quarter. AV Homes Inc., which develops properties in Florida and Arizona, said it closed on 41 percent more houses in the second quarter compared to a year earlier, and contracts signed, net of cancellations, more than doubled.

"The housing market continues to gain momentum," Allen Anderson, chief executive officer of AV Homes, said on an Aug. 7 earnings conference call. "We are no longer battling the headwinds of the housing recession."

Reports last week confirmed housing is improving. Building permits, a proxy for future work, jumped to a four-year high in July even as residential starts fell from the fastest pace in more than three years. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo index of builder confidence rose in August to the highest level since 2007.