Phoenix-area home sales climbed above a year ago for the seventh consecutive month in July but dipped below June as purchases of foreclosed properties continued to wane, according to MDA DataQuick. The region's decreasing reliance on sales of heavily discounted, lender-owned homes helped the median sale price inch higher for the third consecutive month, a real estate information service reported. In July, 57.8 percent of the Phoenix-area houses and condos that resold had been foreclosed on in the prior 12 months, down from 64 percent in June and the lowest since such foreclosure resales were 54.7 percent of all resales last October. Foreclosure resales hit a high of 66.2 percent this March. Sales of existing (not new) houses and condos combined rose on a year-over-year basis for the 13th consecutive month. Last month's gains in the resale market offset a 45.4 percent annual decline in sales of newly constructed homes. The 1,029 new homes that builders sold last month marked the lowest new-home tally for a July in more than a decade.
 
   The median price paid last month for all new and resale houses and condos were $132,500, up 1.9 percent from June but down 32.1 percent from a year ago. The month-to-month gain was the third in a row. The median has edged slightly higher each month since it hit a decade low of $125,000 in April.