WASHINGTON - In a sign that housing troubles are far from over, the National Association of Realtors reported Wednesday that sales of existing homes dropped for a fourth consecutive month, falling by 3.8 percent in June, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units. That is the slowest sales pace since November 2002, and the decline was about twice what had been expected.

The median price of an existing home edged up to $230,100, 0.3 percent more than a year ago. The median is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.

It was the first price gain in 11 months. For June, the median price of a single-family home rose by 0.1 percent and condominium prices increased by 2.6 percent vs. a year ago.

"With inventories still way out of line, unless prices fall a lot more, the housing market will not turn around anytime soon," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.

On Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average, after a huge sell-off Tuesday, rose 68.12 points Wednesday to close at 13,785.07.

In a separate report Wednesday, the Federal Reserve said that the economy expanded in June and early July. But most Fed regions reported further declines in residential construction and real estate activity.

ASSOCIATED PRESS