Existing Home Sales Hit Two-Year High

Existing homes sales jumped to a two-year high in July, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Sales rose 7.2% to an annual rate of 5.24 million homes, the highest level since August 2007, the group said in its monthly report. It was the largest gain since record began in 1999.

Economists had forecast home resales would rise to an annual rate of 5 million from a previously reported 4.89 million pace in June that was unrevised, Bloomberg reported.

Median prices for existing homes fell to $178,400, from $210,100 a year earlier, Bloomberg said.