U.S. home sales fall 3.5 percent in July

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States unexpectedly dropped last month, reflecting an increase in contract cancellations due to strict lending rules and low appraisals.

Purchases decreased 3.5 percent to a 4.67 million annual rate, the weakest since November, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed yesterday in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for an increase in sales. The median price dropped 4.4 percent from a year earlier, and 16 percent of real estate agents polled said they had at least one pending contract canceled last month.

[Newsday reported last week that there were 1,606 home sales finalized in Nassau and Suffolk counties last month, up 15.2 percent from July 2010. Median prices were also up.]