Home sales rise, but prices still going down

Sales by homeowners increased more than expected in July, as median prices fell 7% from July 2007. But supplies still rise to a record high, pushing prices even lower.

During July, homeowners sold more homes than expected. The price fell 7% in July. The price was affected by the increasing supplies and was pushed lower. Inventory is increasing and so the price is decreasing.

According to, the National Association of Realtors, sales by homeowner was found to be 5 million. The same figure was 4.85 million in June. Though the sales were 13.2% lower than July previous year, but this is good in the present scenario.

The price

The median price of homes in July fell to $212,400 from $228,600 a year ago, which was a 7.1% fall. This includes all types of homes - single-family homes, condominiums, town homes, co-ops. The median price for the single-family home fell 7.7% from the last year. The price for a single-family home is $210,900 now.

Increase in sales

Northeast rose   +5.9%
Midwest              + 0.9%
West                    + 9.7%
South- No increase (dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.5%)

Prices

The prices declined 22 % in the West
In the Northeast prices declined 4.9%
In South there was a decline of 3.5%
Midwest- Exception. Prices rose 1%

Inventory

The inventory in the market rose 3.9% in July. The number of homes available for sale was a record 4.67 million. The increase in the inventory is said to be due to increase in the numbers of condominiums. But the single-family home supply dropped during the same time.