MADISON - Sales of existing homes in Wisconsin jumped 17 percent in July.The median sale price rose 9 percent.A report from the Wisconsin Realtors Association Monday says almost 73-hundred homes were sold in the state last month. That's up by more than a thousand from July of 2012.The statewide median home price increased to 155-thousand dollars.

Improvements in the economy and jobs were factors in home-buying last month. But Marquette University economics professor David Clark says rising mortgage rates probably encouraged people to act now.Concerns that prices are going up also likely played a part.In the northern region of Wisconsin, home sales for July were up 11 percent compared to a year ago.The median home price in the north stayed steady at 130-thousand dollars. (Copyright 2013 Associated Press - All Rights Reserved)