Existing-home sales fell more than expected but home prices continued to climb in June, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors…(NAR)
- M-O-M: Total existing-home sales were down 5.4% from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.12 million in June. Economists had projected a much smaller drop of 0.6%.
- Y-O-Y: Total existing sales were down 14.2% when compared to the same time last year.
Breaking this down regionally, the South continues to lead all regions, even with a 6.2% slip, with an annual pace of 2.26M, this is 44.1% of all activity. The Midwest held on to the number two spot even with a 1.6% drop to an annual pace of 1.23M followed by the West at 960K (-11.1%) and the Northeast at 670k (unchanged).
Even though this was the fifth straight month of declines, home prices pushed higher with the median existing-home price up 13.4% to $416,000 in June. This marks 124 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, the longest-running streak on record.
- Regionally, the South also saw the biggest year-over-year price jump at 16.8% which now puts the median price home at $374,900. The overall price winner still belongs to the West where the median-priced home is now $624,000, this is a 9.6% increase from one year ago.
Inventory levels continue to increase with 1.26M units available at the end of June, this is up 9.6% from the previous month and is 2.4% higher thane one year ago. Unsold inventory sits at a 3.0-month supply at the current sales pace, up from 2.6 months in May but time on market actually fell to 14 days in June, down from 16 days in May.
- Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, explained the interesting dynamic of rising inventory levels with homes spending less time on market. “Finally, there are more homes on the market…Interestingly though, the record-low pace of days on market implies a fuzzier picture on home prices. Homes priced right are selling very quickly, but homes priced too high are deterring prospective buyers.”
NOTE: Surprisingly, first-time homebuyers were responsible for 30% of sales in June, a 3 percentage point increase from May. Not surprisingly, all-cash sales remained elevated at 25%, unchanged from last month but up 2 percentage points from June 2021.