June Existing Home Sales Dip, But So Does Unsold Home Inventory

Total existing-home sales declined 3.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units in June from a downwardly revised level of 5.98 million in May, and are 11.4% below the 6.49 million-unit pace in June, 2006, according to the National Association of Realtors. Existing single-family home sales fell 3.5% from the pace set in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.01 million, and are 12.1% below the 5.70 million-unit level registered in June, 2006.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.66% in June, up from 6.26% in May; the rate was 6.68% in June 2006.
“Two bright spots in the June report are a decline in housing inventory and a modest gain in home prices,” NAR senior economist Lawrence Yun said. “Although we’ve seen seasonal month-to-month price increases over the past four months, this is the first time in 11 months that the median home price is higher than the year-ago price.”
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $230,100 in June, up 0.3% from June 2006 when the median was $229,300.
Total housing inventory fell 4.2% at the end of June to 4.2 million existing homes available for sale, which represents an 8.8-month supply at the current sales pace