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Sales of previously owned homes increased slightly last month, but remained near historic lows as homebuyers wait for mortgage rates to fall.
Total existing-home sales ticked up 1.3% from June, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million in July, the National Association of Realtors® reported on Thursday. The July sales figure, which excludes new construction, represented a 2.5% decline from one year ago.
The median sales price for existing homes was $422,600 in July, up 4.2% from one year ago and the highest price on record for the month of July. Prices rose in all four U.S. regions on an annual basis.
“Despite the modest gain, home sales are still sluggish,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “But consumers are definitely seeing more choices, and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates.”
According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.85% for the month of July. That was down from 6.92% in June. Rates have since dropped further ahead of a widely expected cut to the Federal Reserve’s benchmark rate next month, and the Realtor.com economics team expects rates to hit 6.3% by the end of the year.
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