• Last month, home buyers took down the "for sale" signs on enough existing homes to boost the seasonally adjusted annual sales rate to 4.47 million, which was 2.3% higher than selling was in June.
• The action also was 10.4% above what was happening in July 2011.
• The National Association of Realtors said the pace has the potential to reach a pre-recession norm of 5 million to 5.5 million sales a year, but lenders will have to loosen the grip on their wallets for that to happen, even with low mortgages rates.

From the release:

Sales of existing homes rose in July even with constraints of affordable inventory, and the national median price is showing five consecutive months of year-over-year increases, according to the National Association of Realtors®. ...