By Ovunc Kutlu
ANKARA (AA) - US existing home sales fell in August for the seventh consecutive month, while the median sales price continued to increase, according to National Association of Realtors (NAR) data released Wednesday.
Existing home sales, which measure the change in the number of existing residential buildings sold, fell 0.4% from July to 4.8 million in August.
Those sales in August decreased 19.9%, from 5.99 million in the same month of last year.
"The housing sector is the most sensitive to and experiences the most immediate impacts from the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy changes," NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement.
"The softness in home sales reflects this year's escalating mortgage rates. Nonetheless, homeowners are doing well with near nonexistent distressed property sales and home prices still higher than a year ago," he added.
The median existing-home sales price rose to $389,500, up 7.7% from a year ago, according to NAR.