WASHINGTON, Sept 25: The ailing US property market got more bad news on Tuesday as an industry report showed existing home sales fell 4.3 per cent in August and the glut of unsold properties rose further.

The NAR report indicated that credit market turmoil hurt sales, making it harder for buyers to get mortgages in many cases.

The NAR said existing-home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.50 million units in August from 5.75 million in July.

The figure is down 12.8pc from a year ago, and was in line with market expectations amid troubles in the housing sector after a long period of sizzling growth.

“The unusual disruptions in the mortgage market, including a significant rise in jumbo loan rates, resulted in a fairly high number of postponed or cancelled sales, with many buyers having to search for other financing when loan commitments fell through,” said NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun.

“Lower sales contributed to a build-up of unsold inventory.” One bright spot in the report was the first annual price increase in 13 months, the association said.

—AFP