The International Council of Shopping Centers releases its monthly store sales index this week, giving one indication of whether the lower prices are paying off.
The Pending Home Sales Index, reflecting contracts but not closings, rose 2.4 percent from the previous month.
Weekly mortgage rates and pending home sales index for August will be out at 10.
Beginning in 1968, the Art Sales Index brought auction prices into the public domain.
The rise in the Statistics Department's retail sales index compared with a forecast by economists for an increase of 19percentt.
Meanwhile, Professor Graddy's research among the sales indexes offers conclusive evidence about the nature of creativity.
Store sales for last month, measured against the same stores open in December 2002, rose 3.7percentt, according to the Bloomberg composite same-store sales index.
The National Association of Realtors said its pending home sales index, based on contracts signed last month, fell 0.8% to 93.9 last month, the lowest level since October 2011.
The Credit Suisse First Boston total retail same-store sales index, a barometer of industry trends, increased 5.1percentt over the last 12 months, compared with 6.9percentt in the previous 12 months.
The group's pending home sales index rose 6.3percentt in December, a sign that buyers were taking advantage of tumbling home prices.
The e-retail sales index rose by 13% on a monthly basis, the highest for that period since the survey began 13 years ago.
