Investing.com - Sales of previously-owned U.S. homes unexpectedly fell in July, according to figures released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday.
Existing home sales fell 0.7% in July from the previous month to an annualized pace of 5.34 million units.
Economists had forecast a 0.6% increase to an annualized pace of 5.44 million.
Existing home sales account for 90% of the market and are calculated when a contract closes.
With last month’s decline, sales are now 1.5% below a year ago and have fallen on an annual basis for five straight months, according to NAR.
The report also showed that the median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $269,600, up 4.5% from July 2017 ($258,100). July’s price increase marks the 77th straight month of year-over-year gains.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said that the continuous solid gains in home prices have now steadily reduced demand.
“Too many would-be buyers are either being priced out, or are deciding to postpone their search until more homes in their price range come onto the market,” Yun explained.