REAL ESTATE

Sales of Existing Homes Slow: Rising mortgage rates slowed sales of previously owned homes slightly in May, though purchases remained above a 4-million annual rate for the seventh time in the last eight months. The National Assn. of Realtors said sales totaled a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.09 million, down from 4.12 million in April. It was the first decline since sales dropped to a 3.84-million rate in February, when winter weather kept many buyers away. Sales plunged 12.4% in the West in May, offsetting gains in the Northeast and South. Sales were unchanged in the Midwest. Thirty-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 8.6% in May, up from 8.32% a month earlier and the highest since they hit 8.67% in May, 1992.