Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slowed again in July as record prices and the highest mortgage rates in a year prove to be an insurmountable hurdle for many prospective homebuyers.
Record Prices and Mortgage Rates
Existing home sales fell 1.7% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.06 million units, the National Association of Realtors said. Home prices continued to rise, hitting unprecedented levels for the month of July, with the U.S. median sales price increasing 2% from a year earlier, to $434,100.
Last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported that the benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.69%, its highest level in just over a year. It is difficult to find good news about the U.S. housing market from the July report, said Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics.
No one who has a home already can afford to sell it, said Weinberg. People with ultra-low COVID-era mortgages cannot afford to give them up. If no one is selling, no one can be buying, and inventories are low.
Regional Trends
Regionally, prices in the Northeast continue to rise faster than the rest of the country, jumping 5.2% year-over-year, driven by a shortage of inventory.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
