Resales Fall in July

The pace of existing single-family home sales fell in July -- the first down month since January.According to figures compiled by the National Association of Realtors, resales fell by 2.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.72 million units. However, compared with those of the same month last year, sales rose 8.5%. "Prior to this year, the July sales pace would have been a real eye-popper," said NAR chief economist David Lereah. The trade group found that resales in the western U.S. suffered the most, declining 6.6%. The South had the best performance, with resales rising 0.4%. Meanwhile, the median price of an existing home rose 8.7%, to $191,300, compared with that of the same month last year. The NAR can be found online at http://realtor.org.