Sales of previously owned homes fell in July as some house hunters were put off by galloping prices, but the pace of sales was still the third-highest, suggesting the red-hot market isn’t cooling much.

The latest snapshot of activity in the housing market, released Tuesday by the National Assn. of Realtors, showed that July sales of existing homes – including single-family, town homes and condominiums – totaled 7.16 million units at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

That represented a 2.6 percent decline from June’s record-high pace of 7.35 million units.

Soaring home prices and to a lesser extent rising mortgage rates played a role in July’s drop in sales – making it harder for some house hunters to take the leap into home ownership, analysts said.