Existing Home Sales Prices Continue to Hemorrhage as Inventories Build, Yet Headline Inks a Rosy Picture; POTC Sees S&P 1,098 as Huge Technical Hurdle

DJ US July Existing Home Sales Up 7.2% To 5.24 Mln Rate Jul Existing Home Sales Jul Jun Consensus: Total Sales: 5.24M 4.89M 5M

% Change: +7.2% +3.6% Actual: Months Supply: 9.4 9.4 5.24M. .=========================================================== By Meena Thiruvengadam Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)-- Existing-home sales rose to their highest level in nearly two years from June to July as cheaper prices and the availability of tax credits continued to entice buyers. Home resales rose more than expected, bouncing 7.2% - the highest month-over-month percentage increase in more than a decade - to a seasonally adjusted 5.24 million annual rate, the National Association of Realtors said Friday. Analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected an annual sales rate of 5 million. "The housing market has decisively turned for the better," said Lawrence Yun, the NAR's chief economist. The NAR last month estimated June sales rose 3.6% to 4.89 million. That figure was not revised. Foreclosures and short sales reflect 31% of sales in July. Distressed property sales have pushed prices lower, year over year, attracting buyers not sidelined by unemployment or tight credit conditions. The median price for an existing home last month was $178,400, a 15.1% decrease from July 2008. Previously owned home sales, year-over-year, were up 5.0% from the pace in July 2008, the NAR report said. Weak demand has kept inventories of unsold homes high, driving down prices. Inventories of previously owned homes climbed 7.3% at the end of July to 4.09 million available for sale. "The additional inventory likely is a result of some held back inventory coming back to the market," Yun said. That inventory level represents a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, compared to 9.4 months in June. Regionally, July sales rose 13.4% in the Northeast, 7.1% in the South and 10.9% in the Midwest. July sales slid 1.7% in the West. The average 30-year mortgage rate fell to 5.22% in June from 5.42% in June, Freddie Mac data show. -By Meena Thiruvengadam, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9255; meena.thiruvengadam@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=F183dTs0bvg4XHTkTMopZg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones Newswires August 21, 2009 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT) Copyright (c) 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.- - 10 00 AM EDT 08-21-09