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US existing homes fall 1.7% in July as record prices, high mortgage rates stifle would be-buyers

nbcwashington.com · 10h · first reportShare

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed again in July as record prices and the highest mortgage rates in a year prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for many prospective buyers. Existing home sales fell 1.7% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. That’s slightly above the 4.05 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet, and up 0.7% compared with last year. Home prices continued to rise, hitting unprecedented levels for the month of July, NAR said. The U.S. median sales price increased 2% from a year earlier, to $434,100. In June, the median sales price hit $442,800, an all-time high for any single month on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 37 consecutive months. Last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported that the benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.69%, its highest level in just over a year. It was the