U.S. home sales, prices drop in Q2

About 65 percent of metro areas tracked by the National Association of Realtors had median resale single-family home-price gains in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year, though prices dropped 1.5 percent nationwide and the sales rate slid 10.8 percent, according to data released today. The association reported that total existing-home sales, including single-family homes and condos, fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.91 million units in the second quarter compared with 6.63 million in second-quarter 2006. This rate is based on the projection of a monthly total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for seasonal variations in sales activity. The sales rate declined in 41 states in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year, rose in six states, was unchanged in one state, and complete data was not available for two states. Twenty states had a double-digit drop in the rate of existing single-family home sales in the second q...