Existing home sales drop again in July

Summary

Resales Decline in July

• Existing home sales fell 5.9% to a 4.81 million-unit pace during July, the sixth straight monthly drop.
• Single-family sales declined 5.5%, while condo and co-op sales fell 9.1%.
• Total sales are now running 20.2% below the pace registered during the same period last year. The culprit behind the retreat in resales is higher mortgage rates, which have significantly further reduced affordability and pushed prospective buyers to the sideline.
• Inventories continue to rise as buyers tap the brakes and more homeowners seek to sell their homes before the market cools off even further. Unsold inventory increased to 1.31 million in July. Inventories, which are now back to June 2021 levels, are still low by historical standards, but rising quickly. Months' supply improved to 3.3 months, up from 2.9 in June.
• Rising inventories and slowing buyer demand has led to a softer pace of home price appreciation. The median single-family home price rose 10.6% year-over-year, slower than the 12.6% yearly gain posted last month. On a month-over-month, not seasonally-adjusted basis, median single-family prices declined by $10,300 to $410,600.
• Homes are still selling quickly. Homes closed during the past month were on the market for an average of just 14 days on the market, unchanged from June, and down from 17 days in June 2021. According to the National Association of Realtors, 82% of homes sold in July were on the market for less than a month.

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