Existing home sales ticked up a bit in July, breaking a four-month losing streak as mortgage rates declined.

Existing home sales in July rose 1.3% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, the National Association of Realtors reported on Thursday. That is a bit more than economists had expected, although it does not go too far in clawing back the housing market declines in recent months. Home sales are still down 2.5% compared to a year ago.