LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ended a four-month slide in July as easing mortgage rates and a pickup in properties on the market encouraged home shoppers.

Existing home sales rose 1.3% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Sales fell 2.5% compared with July last year. The latest home sales came in slightly higher than the 3.92 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home prices increased on an annual basis for the 13th consecutive month. The national median sales price rose 4.2% from a year earlier to $422,600.

“Despite the modest gain, home sales are still sluggish,” said Lawrence Yun, the NAR’s chief economist. “But consumers are definitely seeing more choices, and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates.”

The supply of properties on the market continued to rise last month.

All told, there were about 1.33 million unsold homes at the end of July, up 0.8% from June and 19.8% from July last year, NAR said.

That translates to a 4-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 3.3-month pace at the end of July last year. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.

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The U.S. housing market has been in a deep sales slump dating back to 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Existing home sales sank to a nearly 30-year low last year as the average rate on a 30-year mortgage surged to a 23-year high of 7.79%, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates have been mostly easing in recent weeks, with the average rate on a 30-year home loan at around 6.5%, its lowest level in more than a year. Signs of waning inflation and a cooling job market have raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut its benchmark interest rate next month for the first time in four years.

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