{"id":6501,"date":"2024-08-22T23:21:33","date_gmt":"2024-08-22T23:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/?p=6501"},"modified":"2024-08-22T23:21:33","modified_gmt":"2024-08-22T23:21:33","slug":"existing-home-sales-advanced-1-3-in-july-ending-four-month-skid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/existing-home-sales-advanced-1-3-in-july-ending-four-month-skid","title":{"rendered":"Existing-Home Sales Advanced 1.3% in July, Ending Four-Month Skid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b><u>Key Highlights<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li>Existing-home sales grew 1.3% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, stopping a four-month sales decline that began in March. However, sales slipped 2.5% from one year ago.<\/li>\n<li>The median existing-home sales price elevated 4.2% from July 2023 to $422,600, the 13<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0consecutive month of year-over-year price gains.<\/li>\n<li>The inventory of unsold existing homes edged higher by 0.8% from the prior month to 1.33 million at the end of July, or the equivalent of 4.0 months\u2019 supply at the current monthly sales pace.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>WASHINGTON, D.C.\u2014Existing-home sales improved in July, breaking a streak of four consecutive monthly declines, according to the National Association of Realtors<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>. Three out of four major U.S. regions registered sales increases while the Midwest remained steady. Year-over-year, sales rose in the Northeast and West but retreated in the Midwest and South.<\/p>\n<p>Total\u00a0<b>existing-home sales <\/b>\u2013 completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops \u2013 ascended 1.3% from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million in July. Year-over-year, sales fell 2.5% (down from 4.05 million in July 2023).<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"x_x__Hlk164160352\"><\/a>\u201cDespite the modest gain, home sales are still sluggish,\u201d said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. \u201cBut consumers are definitely seeing more choices, and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"x_x__Hlk51598590\"><\/a>Total housing inventory registered at the end of July was 1.33 million units, up 0.8% from June and 19.8% from one year ago (1.11 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 4.0-month supply at the current sales pace, down from 4.1 months in June but up from 3.3 months in July 2023.<\/p>\n<p>The median existing-home price\u00a0<a name=\"x_x__Hlk75051067\"><\/a>for all housing types\u00a0in July was $422,600, up 4.2% from one year ago ($405,600). All four U.S. regions posted price increases.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"x_x__Hlk101274943\"><\/a><b>REALTORS<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0Confidence Index<\/b><\/p>\n<p>According to the monthly\u00a0REALTORS<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>\u00a0Confidence Index, properties typically remained on the market for 24 days in July, up from 22 days in June and 20 days in July 2023.<\/p>\n<p>First-time buyers were responsible for 29% of sales in July, identical to June but down from 30% in July 2023. NAR\u2019s 2023\u00a0<i>Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers<\/i>\u00a0<a name=\"x_x__Hlk117002294\"><\/a>\u2013\u00a0released in November 2023\u2013 found that the annual share of first-time buyers was 32%.<\/p>\n<p>All-cash sales accounted for 27% of transactions in July, down from 28% in June but up from 26% one year ago.<\/p>\n<p>Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 13% of homes in July, down from 16% in both June 2024 and July 2023.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"x_x__Hlk111552684\"><\/a>Distressed sales\u2013 foreclosures and short sales \u2013 represented 1% of sales in July, virtually unchanged from last month and the prior year.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Mortgage Rates<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>According to Freddie Mac, the\u00a030-year fixed-rate mortgage\u00a0averaged 6.49% as of August 15. That\u2019s up from 6.47% one week ago but down from 7.09% one year ago.<\/p>\n<h2><b>Single-family and Condo\/Co-op Sales<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Single-family home sales grew 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.57 million in July, down 1.4% from the previous year. The median existing single-family home price was $428,500 in July, up 4.2% from July 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Existing condominium and co-op sales in July were identical to June at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 380,000 units, down 11.6% from one year ago (430,000 units). The median existing condo price was $367,500 in July, up 2.7% from the prior year ($357,900).<a name=\"x_x__Hlk83131003\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe median home price of condominiums is cheaper, yet the condominium market is underperforming compared to the single-family market,\u201d Yun added. \u201cRising maintenance and insurance costs have lessened the appeal for condominiums.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2><b>Regional Breakdown<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Existing-home sales in the Northeast in July climbed 4.3% from June to an annual rate of 490,000, an increase of 2.1% from July 2023. The median price in the Northeast was $505,100, up 8.3% from last year.<\/p>\n<p>In the Midwest, existing-home sales were unchanged in July at an annual rate of 920,000, down 5.2% from the previous year. The median price in the Midwest was $321,300, up 4.5% from July 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Existing-home sales in the South increased 1.1% from June to an annual rate of 1.79 million in July, down 3.8% from one year before. The median price in the South was $372,500, up 2.3% from one year earlier.<\/p>\n<p>In the West, existing-home sales rose 1.4% in July to an annual rate of 750,000, also up 1.4% from a year ago. The median price in the West was $629,500, up 3.4% from July 2023.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Highlights Existing-home sales grew 1.3% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, stopping a four-month sales decline that began in March. However, sales slipped 2.5% from one year ago. The median existing-home sales price elevated 4.2% from July 2023 to $422,600, the 13th\u00a0consecutive month of year-over-year price gains. The inventory [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":6502,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-news"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6503,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6501\/revisions\/6503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/realestateagentmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}