WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - After reporting a notable pullback in existing home sales in the U.S, in the previous month, the National Association of Realtors released a report on Tuesday showing existing home sales saw further downside in the month of July.
NAR said existing home sales tumbled by 1.7 percent to an annual rate of 4.06 million in July after slumping by 1.4 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 4.13 million in June.
Economists had expected existing home sales to decrease by 1.0 percent to an annual rate of 4.05 million from the 4.09 million originally reported for the previous month.
'Home sales have been remarkably stable, even amid the rising mortgage rate environment of the past few months,' said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
He added, 'Year-to-date sales are up 2.4% and there's no doubt that the housing market would be thriving if average mortgage rates were to return near 6%.'
The monthly decline in existing home sales came amid weakness in the South and Midwest, where existing home sales plunged by 3.1 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, the report said existing home sales in the West were unchanged, while existing home sales in the Northeast jumped by 2.0 percent.
NAR also said housing inventory at the end of July totaled 1.54 million units, down 1.9 percent from 1.57 million units in June and down 0.6 percent from 1.55 million units in July 2025.
The unsold inventory represents 4.6 months of supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from June and the same month a year ago.
The report also said the median existing home price was $434,100 in July, down 2.0 percent from $442,800 in June but up 2.0 percent from $425,700 in July 2025.
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