US existing homes fall 1.7% in July as record prices, high mortgage rates stifle would be-buyers

The briefing

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell 1.7% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units. The median sales price rose 2% from a year earlier to $434,100, the 37th straight month of annual increases, while the benchmark 30-year mortgage rate climbed to 6.69%, its highest in over a year. Inventory of 1.54 million unsold homes translates to a 4.6-month supply, short of the 5- to 6-month range considered balanced.