Fewer existing homes sold last month in U.S.

U.S. homebuyers pulled back in July, as sales declined amid a shortage of available properties and steadily rising prices.

Sales of existing homes fell 3.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.39 million, the National Association of Realtors said in a report this past week. The decline marks a reversal from rising demand that pushed sales in June to their highest level since February 2007.

Fewer homes are coming onto the market, putting a cap on the sales growth from earlier this year thanks in part to a low mortgage rate and brightening job market. Rising demand is a positive, but the dwindling supply of listings has pushed up prices, which suggests a market not yet at full health.

This mismatch between supply and demand creates an environment of limited sales growth and escalating home values.

The number of listings has tumbled 5.8 percent from aye ara goto 2.13 million, meaning that would-be homebuyers are struggling to find attractive properties in their price range and may be delaying their purchases.

Inventories have fallen on an annual basis for the past 14 months, an indication many homeowners are still recovering from the housing bust that triggered the Great Recession almost a decade ago. Without sufficient equity in their homes, many of these owners would be unable to generate down payments to buy homes with the proceeds from a sale.

The median home sales price was $244,100 in July, up 5.3 percent from a year ago.