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.

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