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Existing home sales slump
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July 25, 1997: 10:47 a.m. ET
Realtors say June sales fell 2.6 percent, median price at $127,200
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Sales of existing homes in the United States fell off sharply in the month of June, the National Association of Realtors said Friday.
The association said home sales dropped 2.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.14 million units, a far sharper fall than economists' predictions of an 0.9 percent decrease to 4.2 million units.
That figure was also lower than June sales one year ago, when that month's figure was down 0.5 percent to 4.16 million.
The national median existing-home price was $127,200 in June, up 3.5 percent from the June 1996 price of $122,900, the NAR said. The median is the midpoint home price, with half the homes selling for less, and half selling for more.
Looking at the sales by region, the South's sales remained unchanged in June, despite being the nation's most energetic housing market.
The lone gainer among the country's regions was the Midwest, where sales rose 0.9 percent in June to a rate of 1.08 million units.
The Northeast was hardest hit by decreasing sales, falling 7.7 percent to a pace of 600,000. The western United States was off 6.4 percent to 880,000.
-- Randy Schultz
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