LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed for the sixth consecutive month in July, deepening the housing market’s slide under the weight of sharply higher mortgage rates, surging inflation and slower, but solidly rising home prices.

The National Association of Realtors said today that existing home sales fell 5.9% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million. That’s lower than what economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Sales fell 20.2% from July last year. Sales have now fallen to the slowest pace since May 2020, near the start of the pandemic.

The national median home price jumped 10.8% in July from a year earlier to $403,800.