US sales of existing homes rose in July to a five-month high, but the glut of unsold homes hit a record high, which suggests the housing market remains in crisis.
The National Association of Realtors reported sales of existing homes and apartments increased 3.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of five million units in July from a downwardly revised level of 4.85 million in June.
The report was better than analysts' forecast of a sales pace of 4.90 million units.
However, analysts pointed out that the modest monthly gain in sales benefited from fire-sale prices from foreclosures and the glut of unsold homes means that recovery in the housing market, at the epicentre of US economic woes, remains out of sight.
The inventory of unsold homes at the end of July rose 3.9% to 4.67 million units, an 11.2-month supply at the current sales pace, up from a 11.1-month supply in June.
On a 12-month basis, July sales of homes and apartments fell 13.2%, underscoring the deep woes of the real estate market.
The median existing-home price for all housing types was $212,400 in July, down 7.1% from a year ago.
