U.S. sales of previously owned homes ticked up 2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 4.01 million, the National Association of Realtors said. The figure exceeded the 3.92 million rate economists surveyed by Bloomberg had expected and marked a 0.8% increase from a year earlier, hinting at a tentative rebound after a disappointing spring selling season. The national median existing-home price edged up just 0.2% from a year earlier to $422,400, the slowest annual rise in two years. Sluggish price appreciation, combined with a pullback in borrowing costs— the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate slipped to a 10-month low of 6.58% during the month— helped draw more buyers back into the market. Inventories also improved: 1.55 million homes were listed for sale at the end of July, up 0.6% from June and 15.7% from a year earlier, giving buyers the widest choice since May 2020. That translates to a 4.6-month supply at the current sales pace, still shy of the five-to-six-month level considered balanced. “Wage growth is now comfortably outpacing home price growth, and buyers have more choices,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said, adding that roughly half of U.S. markets are seeing price cuts. Even so, affordability remains strained after a multiyear run-up in values, and mortgage-rate forecasts above 6% through 2026 suggest any recovery in existing-home sales is likely to be gradual.