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By ALEX VEIGA, Associated Press Business Writer

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes rose in July as homebuyers were encouraged by a modest pullback in mortgage rates, slowing home price growth and the most properties on the market in over five years.

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Existing home sales rose 2% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.01 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday.

Sales edged up 0.8% compared with July last year. The latest sales figure topped the 3.92 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Home prices rose on an annual basis for the 25th consecutive month, although the rate of growth continued to slow. The national median sales price inched up just 0.2% in July from a year earlier to $422,400. read more

By Brian Baker, CFA, Bankrate.com

Making the decision to start investing is one of the best decisions you can make. Investing is an important step toward building wealth and achieving your financial goals. However, successful investing can be difficult and there are some key mistakes you’ll want to avoid.

Here are the top seven investment mistakes beginners make when they start investing.

1. Waiting to get started investing

There can be a lot of reasons not to start investing, especially when you’re early in your career. You may be starting with a relatively low salary, and you may not have a lot of extra savings each month to invest. But saving and investing whatever you can, even if it’s small, when you’re young will set you up for success down the road.

Money you invest in your 20s has more time to compound and grow than money you invest later on when you’re closer to retirement age. A $1,000 investment when you’re 22 years old that grows at 10% annually will be worth a little more than $45,250 when you’re age 62. If you wait 10 years to invest at age 32, that $1,000 turns into just $17,450 at age 62. Those first 10 years are important for compounding wealth. read more

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, Associated Press Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Just three weeks ago, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell spoke to reporters after the central bank had kept its key interest rate unchanged for a fifth straight meeting and said the job market was “solid.”

His assessment was important because if the job market is healthy, there is less need for the Fed to cut its key interest rate, as President Donald Trump has demanded. Two days later, the Labor Department issued a report that cast doubt on that assessment, showing hiring was weak in July and much lower than previously estimated in May and June.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Sony has raised the price of its PlayStation 5 consoles being sold in the United States by $50.

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“Similar to many global businesses, we continue to navigate a challenging economic environment,” Sony Global Marketing Vice President Isabelle Tomatis wrote in a blog post. “As a result, we’ve made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price for PlayStation 5 consoles in the U.S. starting on August 21.”

The price change affects the standard Playstation 5, the Digital Edition and the Pro. According to Sony, prices for games and accessories remain unchanged and that this round of increases only affects consoles sold in the U.S. read more

CHICAGO — It’s been a little over six months since President Donald Trump assumed office for his second term. In that time, the economic landscape has shifted quite drastically: The new administration has implemented broad tariffs on U.S. trade partners, the stock market has both plummeted and soared to historic heights, hiring is down, fears of a recession are on the rise and, perhaps most notably for everyday Americans, consumer prices are changing.

Now $6.34, the cost of ground beef hit all-time highs for the sixth consecutive month, jumping another 4% since June. But it’s not just backyard barbecues and ballpark dogs that are getting more expensive — bananas, electricity and chicken also remain at or less than a cent away from their record prices, according to the latest data from the consumer price index.

Across the board, consumer prices are about 2.7% higher than they were this time last year, an increase economists largely attribute to the president’s sweeping tariffs pushing costs higher. And with even greater import taxes on more than 90 countries taking effect last week, it may not be the last time the price of consumer goods and services tips the scale. read more