U.S. Existing Home Sales Decline in June; Home Prices Set Record
by:Tom Moeller
|in:Economy in Brief
Summary
- Sales are lowest in nine months.
- Decline spreads throughout country except in West.
- Median sales price strengthens to record high.
Existing home sales declined 2.7% (0.0% y/y) to 3.93 million (SAAR) in June after increasing 1.0% in May to 4.04 million, revised from 4.03 million, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). Sales in April were unrevised at 4.00 million. The Action Economics Forecast Survey expected 4.00 million unit sales in June. Last month’s sales decline accompanied an unchanged effective 30-year mortgage interest rate of 6.82% in June. The sales figures are based on closings of sales signed over the past couple of months.
Existing single-family home sales fell 3.0% (+0.6% y/y) during June to 3.57 million units after a 1.4% increase to 3.68 million in May and a 0.3% decline to 3.63 million in April. Sales of condos and co-ops held steady (-5.3% y/y) at 360,000 after falling 2.7% in May.
Sales were mixed across the country last month. Sales in the Northeast declined 8.0% (-4.2% y/y) to 460,000 following a 4.2% May increase. Sales in the Midwest fell 4.0% (+2.2% y/y) to 950,000 after rising 2.1% in May. Sales in the South were off 2.2% (1.7% y/y) to 1.81 million and reversed the May gain to 1.85 million. Rising by 1.4% (-4.1% y/y) to 710,000 were sales in the West after falling 5.4% in May.
The median price average of all existing homes (NSA) strengthened 2.7% (2.0% y/y) to a record $435,300 in June, up for the fifth straight month. The median price of an existing single-family home rose 3.0% (2.0% y/y) to $441,500 in June and the median price of condos & co-ops improved 0.7% (0.8% y/y) to $374,500 last month. Prices for homes in the West rose 1.0% both m/m and y/y to $636,100 while prices in the Northeast increased 5.9% (4.2% y/y) to $543,300. In the South, prices rose 1.5% (0.3% y/y) to $374,500 while in the Midwest, home prices strengthened 3.2% (3.4% y/y) to $337,600.
The number of existing homes for sale (NSA) fell 0.6% (+15.9% y/y) to 1.53 million units in June after five straight months of strong increase. The supply of homes on the market at the current selling rate (NSA) increased to 4.7 months, the highest level in nine years, up from a low of 1.6 months in January 2022.
The data on existing home sales, prices and affordability are compiled by the National Association of Realtors. The data on single-family home sales extend back to February 1968. Total sales and price data and regional sales can be found in Haver's USECON database. Regional price and affordability data and national inventory data are available in the REALTOR database. Mortgage interest rates can be found in the WEEKLY database. The expectations figure is from the Action Economics Forecast Survey, reported in the AS1REPNA database.
Tom Moeller
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Prior to joining Haver Analytics in 2000, Mr. Moeller worked as the Economist at Chancellor Capital Management from 1985 to 1999. There, he developed comprehensive economic forecasts and interpreted economic data for equity and fixed income portfolio managers. Also at Chancellor, Mr. Moeller worked as an equity analyst and was responsible for researching and rating companies in the economically sensitive automobile and housing industries for investment in Chancellor’s equity portfolio. Prior to joining Chancellor, Mr. Moeller was an Economist at Citibank from 1979 to 1984. He also analyzed pricing behavior in the metals industry for the Council on Wage and Price Stability in Washington, D.C. In 1999, Mr. Moeller received the award for most accurate forecast from the Forecasters' Club of New York. From 1990 to 1992 he was President of the New York Association for Business Economists. Mr. Moeller earned an M.B.A. in Finance from Fordham University, where he graduated in 1987. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from George Washington University.
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