U.S. existing-home sales fall 0.2 percent

Washington -- U.S. existing-home sales fell 0.2 percent for a fifth consecutive month, with prices dropping as unsold property inventories rose, a realty group said Monday.

July's home resales declined to a 5.75 million annual rate from June's 5.76 million annual pace and 9 percent below the 6.32 million-unit level in July 2006, the National Association of Realtors said.

"Home sales probably would be rising in the absence of the mortgage-liquidity issues of the past two months," NAR economist Lawrence Yun said. "Some buyers with contracts have been scrambling when loan commitments did not materialize at the last moment, while other potential buyers are simply waiting for the mortgage market to stabilize."

The median home price was $228,900 in July, down 0.6 percent from July 2006's $230,200, the realty group said. The median price in June this year was $229,200.

The inventory of homes available for sale rose 5.1 percent at the end of July to 4.59 million. This represented a 9.6-month supply at the current sales pace, compared with a 9.1-month supply at the end of June.

Regionally, sales rose 1.8 percent in the West and 1 percent in the Northeast, were unchanged in the South and fell 2.2 percent in the Midwest.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International.