A new report from the National Association of Realtors) says total existing home sales dropped 0.2-percent to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 1 of 5.75 million units in July, which is a 9-percent drop when compared to the 6.32 million-unit level set during the same month last year.

“Home sales probably would be rising in the absence of the mortgage liquidity issues of the past two months,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR. “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.”
Yun did discuss some of the positive trends developing in the Northeast region, which was one of the first areas affected by the real estate downturn.
“The rise in sales and prices in the Northeast region on a fairly consistent basis in recent months is promising because this was the first region that underwent sales and price weakness after the boom,” Yun concluded. “Now, it appears that it will be the first region to climb back, indicating that other regions could follow a similar path.”
Meanwhile, NAR also noticed a drop in existing home sale prices in its latest report. The association says the national median price for all housing types hovered at $228,900 in July, down 0.6-percent when compared to July of last year.
Click here to read NAR’s full report.