Home resales fall to five-month low, keeping prices near record

Sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell to a five-month low in June on limited inventory, also helping to push selling prices near a record high.

Contract closings declined 3.3% to a 4.16 million annualized pace, roughly in line with economists' forecasts, National Association of Realtors data showed Thursday. Compared with a year earlier, sales were down more than 17% on an unadjusted basis. 

A lack of inventory in the resale market remains a key constraint. The number of homes for sale held at 1.08 million, the lowest June inventory on record. With mortgage rates more than twice as high as they were at the end of 2021, many homeowners are choosing not to sell their homes.

"There are simply not enough homes for sale," Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist, said in a statement. "The market can easily absorb a doubling of inventory."

Existing-home sales have rapidly deteriorated over the past year amid the sharp increase in borrowing costs and an ensuing collapse in available inventory. Builders have stepped in to fill the void in listings, bolstering new-home sales and helping stabilize the housing sector.

While the median selling price — at $410,200 — is down slightly from a year ago, it's the second-highest in data back to 1999. Yun said scant supply is still leading to many homes receiving multiple offers, with one-third getting sold above the asking price.

At the current sales pace, it would take 3.1 months to sell all the properties on the market. Realtors see anything below five months of supply as indicative of a tight market.

The NAR's report showed 76% of homes sold were on the market for less than a month. Properties remained on the market for 18 days on average in June, the same as a month earlier. 

Sales of single-family homes eased to an annualized 3.72 million pace. Existing condominium and co-op sales also declined.

Existing-home sales typically account for the vast majority of US housing and are calculated when a contract closes. Data on new-home sales, which make up the remainder and based on contract signings, are due next week.