Existing home sales nationwide rose in August as housing markets struggled to stand unaided after the expiration of a popular tax credit for homebuyers, but activity remained severely depressed from levels preceding the country’s most severe downturn in modern history.

Sales climbed 7.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.13 million units, the National Association of Realtors said today. Forecasters in a Reuters poll had been looking for a 8.4 percent increase.

The August sales pace was the second lowest since 1997 after July’s revised 3.84 million level, which had posted a record one-month drop after the tax credit ended. (Reuters)