Existing Home Sales Jump in July

iStockphoto/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The housing market is on a slow road to recovery.

Sales of existing homes climbed 2.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million in July, according to the National Association of Realtors.  Home re-sales were also up more than 10 percent compared to a year ago. This was just slightly lower than economist expectations.

The number of first-time homebuyers rose to 34 percent of sales, up slightly from June. In a healthy market, first-time buyers make up about 40 percent of sales.

The median price of existing homes climbed 9.4 percent to $187,300 compared to a year ago.  This was the strongest year-over-year increase since January 2006.

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