Existing home sales increased 3.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.49 million in June, according to the National Association of Realtors, up from a downwardly revised 5.32 million in May. Existing home sales have increased year over year for the last nine months.
Median existing home prices increased 6.5 percent year over year to $236,400, the fortieth consecutive month of year over year price increases.
Total housing inventory increased 0.9 percent to 2.30 million existing homes available for sale, up 0.4 percent from a year ago. There is currently a 5.0 month supply of existing homes available for sale, down from 5.1 months in May. NAR President Chris Polychron noted that “[Inventory] conditions are being exacerbated by the fact that some homeowners are hesitant to sell because they’re not optimistic they’ll have adequate time to find an affordable property to move into.”
The percent share of first-time home buyers fell to 2 points to 30 percent in June, but remained higher than in June 2014.
Existing home sales increased in all four regions, rising 4.3 percent in the Northeast, 4.7 percent in the Midwest, 2.3 percent in the South and 2.5 percent in the West. Each region also saw significant year-over-year gains in home prices.
Distressed sales fell 2 points to 8 percent, matching an August 2014 low. Foreclosures made up 6 percent of June sales, while 2 percent were short sales.
Read the NAR release.