My Financial Healthcheck

Sales of existing homes dipped in June as buyers unexpectedly backed out of contracts, according to the Realtors group.

Home sales fell 0.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.77 million, down from 4.81 million in May, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Economists had expected a June sales rate of 4.93 million homes, according to consensus estimates from Briefing.com.

"A variety of issues are weighing on the market including an unusual spike in contract cancellations in the past month," said Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at NAR.

Yun said the reason behind the spike was unclear, but he pointed to tight credit and low appraisal prices as possible culprits.

In addition, he said the weak economy and concerns over the federal budget deficit "may be causing hesitation among some consumers or lenders."