US home sales fell in July; some buyers see silver lining

By ALEX VEIGA
AP Business Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The housing market’s comedown from its high-flying days early this year is deepening, with home sales in July falling for the sixth straight month. Sharply higher mortgage rates, surging inflation and prices that remain near all-time highs are making homes less affordable. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that sales fell 20.2% from July last year, reaching the slowest pace since May 2020, near the start of the pandemic. But the slowdown has begun to tip the homebuying equation, if ever so slightly, in favor of house hunters who can afford to stay in the market and away from sellers.