Home resales soar 7.2%; Largest monthly rise in 10 years

The U.S. housing market is rebounding quicker than expected, with home resales in July posting the largest monthly increase in at least 10 years as first-time buyers rushed to take advantage of a tax credit that expires this fall. The NAR said that home sales rose 7.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.24M in July, from June's 4.89M pace. It was the 4th-straight monthly increase & the highest level of sales since Aug 2007. Sales were expected to rise to an annual pace of 5M, according to economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters. "The housing market, with the strong rise in sales, decisively turned for the better," said Lawrence Yun, trade group's chief economist. Sales of foreclosures & other distressed properties made up 1/3 of all transactions in July, down from nearly half earlier this year. In places like San Diego & Orlando, buyers are snapping up foreclosed properties at deep discounts, & real estate agents are pressing banks to release more foreclosures onto the market. Those sales helped drag down the median sales price by 15% to $178,400. 1st-time buyers must complete their sales transactions by the end of Nov. to take advantage of a tax credit of 10% of the purchase price, up to $8,000. The real estate industry is lobbying Congress to get the credit extended. "It would be unfortunate to see the momentum halted," he said. The inventory of unsold homes on the market rose to 4.1M, from 3.8M a month earlier. That's a 9.4-mo supply at the current sales pace, unchanged from June.