Home Sales Slumped In July

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell last month to the slowest pace since January, as elevated mortgage rates and a stubbornly low inventory of homes on the market combined to discourage many would-be homebuyers.

Existing home sales fell 2.2% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.07 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday.

That’s below the 4.15 million pace that economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Sales slumped 16.6% compared with July last year.

The national median sales price rose 1.9% from July last year to $406,700, marking the first annual increase in prices since January.