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U.S. home sales drop
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August 25, 2000: 10:23 a.m. ET
Realtors report blames rising mortgage rates for nearly 10% fall in sales
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Sales of existing homes fell much more than expected in July, according to a trade group report released Friday, which blamed rising mortgage rates for the slowdown.
The National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales hit an annual rate of 4.79 million in the month, down 9.8 percent from the June figure. A survey by Briefing.com's had forecast that sales would slip to an annual rate of 5.15 million homes sold in July from the revised figure of a 5.31 million annual sales rate in June.
Despite the slowdown in sales, the median price of the home still increased to $143,300 from $140,200 in June, and increase of 5.4 percent from the $136,000 median price of a year earlier. 
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