Existing Home Sales Slide 0.2% in July

Washington, DC, August 27, 2007 - Existing-home sales including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops, slipped 0.2% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.75 million units, according to the National Association of Realtors.

July’s move was from an upwardly revised pace of 5.76 million in June, and is 9% below the 6.32 million-unit level in July 2006. 

Lawrence Yun, NAR senior economist, said the market is holding on despite temporary mortgage disruptions. “Home sales probably would be rising in the absence of the mortgage liquidity issues of the past two months,” he said. “Some buyers with contracts have been scrambling when loan commitments did not materialize at the last moment, while other potential buyers are simply waiting for the mortgage market to stabilize. 

“The rise in sales and prices in the Northeast region on a fairly consistent basis in recent months is promising because this was the first region that underwent sales and price weakness after the boom. Now, it appears that it will be the first region to climb back, indicating that other regions could follow a similar path.”

According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.70% in July, up from 6.66 % in June; the rate was 6.76% in July 2006. Last week, Freddie Mac reported the 30-year fixed rate dropped to 6.52%.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $228,900 in July, down 0.6% from July 2006 when the median was $230,200, the highest monthly price on record. The median is a typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Total housing inventory rose 5.1% at the end of June to 4.59 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.6-month supply at the current sales pace, up from an upwardly revised 9.1-month supply in June.

Single-family home sales slipped 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.00 million in July from an upwardly revised level of 5.02 million in June, and are 9.3% below the year-ago pace of 5.51 million units. The median existing single-family home price was $228,600 in July, down 1.0% from July 2006.

Existing condominium and co-op sales rose 1.4% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 750,000 units in July from 740,000 in June, but are 7.5% below the 811,000-unit level in July 2006. The median existing condo price was $230,600 in July, up 2.4% from a year ago.

Regionally, existing-home sales in the West rose 1.8% in July to an annual pace of 1.12 million, but are 15.2% below a year ago.  The median price in the West was $349,400, up 0.9% from July 2006.

Existing-home sales in the Northeast increased 1.0% to a level of 1.02 million in July, but are 2.9% lower than July 2006.  The median existing-home price in the Northeast was $290,900, up 5.9% from a year ago.

Existing-home sales in the South were unchanged at an annual rate of 2.26 million in July, but are 10.7 % below a year ago. The median price in the South was $186,300, down 3.2 % from July 2006.

Existing-home sales in the Midwest fell 2.2% in July to a level of 1.35 million, and are 5.6% below July 2006.  The median price in the Midwest was $173,800, which is 1.8% below a year ago.