Existing-home sales in June fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.12 million. Sales were down 14.2 percent from one year ago.
"Falling housing affordability continues to take a toll on potential home buyers," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Both mortgage rates and home prices have risen too sharply in a short span of time."
The median existing-home price for all housing types in June was 416,000 U.S. dollars, up 13.4 percent from June 2021, hitting a new record high, the report showed.
"The gain translates to a 13.3 percent year-over-year rise, which is somewhat softer than the 14.6 percent gain registered in May," economists at the Wells Fargo Securities said in an analysis, noting that the improvement in supply and cool-down in demand is leading to some moderation in home price gains.
They noted that higher mortgage rates are the "major factor" driving the pull-back in home buying activity.
According to the NAR report, the inventory of unsold existing homes rose to 1.26 million by the end of June, or the equivalent of 3.0 months at the current monthly sales pace. This is still remarkably low by historical standards.
A separate report released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau showed that residential housing starts in June decreased 2 percent to a 1.56 million annualized rate. The annual rate of total housing starts fell 6.3 percent from the previous year.
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