Several of the nation’s largest public home builders reported earnings this week, and I was struck by the way their CEOs spoke of the current state of housing, especially in what I’m sure were some very carefully crafted written earnings statements.

From D.R. Horton’s [ DHI 12.44  +0.34 (+2.81%) ] Donald Horton:

“Market conditions in the homebuilding industry are still challenging, with high foreclosures, significant existing home inventory, high unemployment, tight mortgage lending standards and weak consumer confidence. However, housing affordability remains near record highs, interest rates are favorable and new home inventory is still very low,” Horton said. “We continue to focus on providing affordable homes for the first-time buyer while having product available for move-up buyers, further adjusting our cost structure relative to our current sales pace.”

Translation: We’re still in the dumps, but we’re lowering prices, so come on and buy.

Pulte’s [ PHM 8.13  -0.11 (-1.34%) ] Richard Dugas: “Over the near term, we expect the industry will continue to face low levels of demand and that overall operating conditions will remain highly competitive.” Dugas then said he expects a return to profitability in the “back half of the year.”

Translation: Still bad, but it has to get better, right?

Ryland’s CEO didn’t weigh in on the earnings release.

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Thanks to all the streaming feeds of constant news I’m subjected to, I just clicked on a CNBC story titled, Four Years Later, Housing Market Shows Signs of Life.” I was curious, seeing as I write about housing for CNBC, and I didn’t write that. It’s a Reuters piece, and I don’t buy it.

But wait, what about this morning’s report of an 11 percent jump in sales of newly built homes and last week’s report of a 4 percent jump in sales of existing homes; March was a great month, right? A little perspective, please.

Yes, the numbers are going in the right direction, but only after big, albeit partially revised, drops in February. We’re working off a bottom here, and we’re still bumping around it. My concern, as it has been for years now, is distressed properties. Foreclosures and short sales (where the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage) are ruling the roost, and that is not good news for home prices, which are still dropping, despite this one month of rising sales. Sales are all well and good, but prices are key in so so many ways.

For existing homes in March, the bulk of the market, 35 percent of all transactions were all-cash (that’s a new record), and 22 percent were sales to investors; investors don’t necessarily want to hold on to these properties for very long, so they may come back on the market again soon.

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