A total of 7,379 homes were sold in August, property agency Duna House estimates. This is down 8% from the 8,008 sales one year earlier, when the strong Swiss franc forced many to sell off their mortgaged homes. In the first eight months nearly 68,000 homes were sold, up 20% from one year earlier. Nevertheless, the first months of 2011 were especially weak and in 2012 especially strong due to the state foreign currency mortgage early repayment scheme, Duna House added.