The numbers: Existing-home sales ran at a 5.34 million seasonally-adjusted annual rate in July, down 0.7% versus June, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. That was the lowest pace since February 2016, and missed the MarketWatch consensus forecast of 5.40 million.
What happened: Sales of previously-owned homes slid for the fourth consecutive month as supply remained too scarce and prices too high to tempt would-be buyers. July’s selling pace was 1.5% lower than a year ago, and at the current sales rate, it would take 4.3 months to exhaust available supply, the same as in June, and well below long-time historical averages. After a brief uptick in June, inventory was unchanged compared to a year ago in July and down 0.5% for the month.
Homes for sale were on the market for an average of 27 days in July, up a bit from 26 days in June. The median sales price in June was $269,600, up 4.5% compared to July 2017.
Big picture: For years, the Realtors have been warning that many would-be buyers, particularly at the lower end of the market, are being priced out. Now they’re also acknowledging that many others are just deciding to sit it out until market conditions change.
First-timers made up 32% of all buyers in July, a tick higher than in June but still well below long-time averages, and making no real progress. Notably, distressed sales made up the lowest share of all transactions, at 3%, since the group began tracking that metric in 2008.
The group now forecasts 2018 sales will be 1% lower than the 5.51 million homes sold in 2017.
Regional sales breakdowns ranged from an 8.3% decline in the Northeast to a 4.4% gain in the West. In the Midwest, sales were down 1.6%, and in the South they ticked down 0.4%.
Read: We’re probably at peak housing. Here’s what that means.
What they’re saying: “While inventories continue to act as a drag on sales, we are intrigued by the jump in listings reported in the June data, which ended a three-year run of listings being down year-on-year,” said Richard Moody, chief economist for Regions, in a note out before the NAR release.
“Steadily increasing listings would take some of the edge off of what has been a heady pace of price appreciation, allowing for more sales to the first-time buyers who have to a large degree been locked out of the market by lean inventories and affordability constraints,” Moody added.
Market reaction: The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.09% was down marginally in early-morning trading.
Also see: Meet the tech-savvy upstarts who think they can finally give Realtors a run for their money
