According to the latest data released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the U.S. existing-home market showed renewed signs of cooling in June, weighed down by elevated mortgage rates and persistently high home prices. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, existing-home sales totaled 4.09 million units in June, down 2.4% from the previous month, falling short of market expectations for modest growth. However, compared with the same month last year, the figure still recorded a 2.8% increase.
NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun noted that recent existing-home sales data have continued to show volatility, primarily due to fluctuations in mortgage rates, which fully indicates that homebuyers are highly sensitive to changes in housing affordability. He also emphasized that U.S. employment growth has exceeded 500,000 so far this year, and the solid employment fundamentals will continue to provide a certain degree of support for the housing market.
On the supply-demand front, inventory remained relatively tight. By the end of June, existing-home inventory in the U.S. stood at 1.56 million units, down 0.6% month-over-month and up 1.3% year-over-year. At the current sales pace, the available inventory represents about 4.6 months of supply, still below the 6-month level generally considered indicative of a balanced market. Insufficient supply continued to push up home prices, with the median existing-home sales price climbing to $440,600 in June, up 1.8% year-over-year, once again setting a new historical record. Yun stated that if inventory growth stalls over the long term, it will constrain the outlook for housing affordability improvement, and increasing supply is crucial to enhancing homeownership opportunities.
By price segment, the high-end residential market performed particularly strongly. Sales of homes priced below $100,000 fell 1.7% year-over-year, while sales in the $100,000-to-$250,000 range increased by less than 1%. In contrast, sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million rose nearly 14% year-over-year, and sales of luxury homes over $1 million surged 18%. By region, except for the Northeast, where existing-home sales posted a month-over-month increase, all other regions experienced declines of varying degrees.
In terms of transaction structure, all-cash purchases accounted for 25% of total transactions, down from 29% in the same period last year. Meanwhile, first-time buyers accounted for 33% of total transactions, up from 30% a year earlier, indicating some improvement in first-time homebuyer demand. Overall, however, the dual constraints of high interest rates and high home prices remain in place, continuing to exert pressure on a full recovery of the housing market.
