Resales Jump to Record Pace

Existing-home sales rose 5% in July to a record-breaking monthly pace that was nearly 14% higher than the resales figure recorded a year earlier.The National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing single-family homes rose from a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.83 million units in June to 6.12 million in July. The resales rate was up 13.8% from 5.38 million in July 2002. "When mortgage interest rates first began to rise from record lows, it appears some buyers jumped into the market to take advantage of good affordability conditions before interest rates moved even higher," NAR chief economist David Lereah said. "However, given the strong underlying demand for housing from a growing number of households, it's hard to gauge just how much 'fence jumping' may have accounted for the sales record." The NAR can be found online at http://realtor.org.