County home sales drop 31 percent in July

Consumers held back on buying homes last month as nervousness over the poor national economy continued during a typically slower period in the real estate cycle.

The 411 homes sold in Anne Arundel County in July represented a 31.6 percent drop from the 601 homes purchased in July 2007, according to Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, a Rockville-based listing service. The slide marks the seventh consecutive month of double digit sales drops in the county when compared with last year.

Median sale prices also have fallen each month so far this year compared with 2007. Last month, the median sale price fell 7.5 percent to...