U.S. Existing Home Sales Slump To Nine-Month Low In June

(RTTNews) - A report released by the National Association of Realtors on Wednesday showed existing home sales in the U.S. pulled back by more than expected in the month of June.

NAR said existing home sales slumped by 2.7 percent to an annual rate of 3.93 million in June after jumping by 1.0 percent to a revised rate of 4.04 million in May.

Economists had expected existing home sales to fall by 0.5 percent to an annual rate of 4.01 million from the 4.03 million originally reported for the previous month.

With the bigger than expected decrease, existing home sales fell to their lowest annual rate since hitting 3.90 million last September.

The decline by existing home sales partly reflected a steep drop in the Northeast, where existing home sales plunged by 8.0 percent.

Existing home sales in the Midwest and South also tumbled by 4.0 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively, while existing home sales in the West shot up by 1.4 percent.

The report also said the median existing home price increased to a record high $435,300 in June, up 2.0 percent compared to the same month a year ago.

"Multiple years of undersupply are driving the record high home price. Home construction continues to lag population growth," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "This is holding back first-time home buyers from entering the market."

He added, "More supply is needed to increase the share of first-time homebuyers in the coming years even though some markets appear to have a temporary oversupply at the moment."

NAR said housing inventory at the end of June totaled 1.53 million units, down 0.6 percent from 1.54 million units at the end of May but up 15.9 percent from 1.32 million units a year ago

The unsold inventory represents 4.7 months of supply at the current sales pace, up from 4.6 months in May and 4.0 months in June 2024.

"Expanding participation in the housing market will increase the mobility of the workforce and drive economic growth," said Yun.

He continued, "If mortgage rates decrease in the second half of this year, expect home sales to increase across the country due to strong income growth, healthy inventory, and a record-high number of jobs."

On Thursday, the Commerce Department is scheduled to release its report on new home sales in the month of June.

Economists currently expect new home sales to climb to an annual rate of 650,000 in June after plunging to a rate of 623,000 in May.