Although the number of residential properties sold last month was the highest in years, the annual rate was still lower. The South had the biggest impact on national sales.
The sale of 601,000 single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-operatives were consummated during all of June 2017.
That was the most existing home sales for any single month in at least two years. Sales were 555,000 in May 2017 and a downwardly revised 582,000 in June 2016.
Historical data from the National Association of Realtors, which released the latest data Monday, indicate there were 2.692 million existing home sales in the first-half 2017.
Seasonally adjusted sales came in at an annual rate of 5.52 million last month, down 2 percent from a month earlier and up less than a percent from a year earlier.
Leading the drop in sales from May was the South, where the annual rate fell 5 percent to 2.23 million. The Northeast retreated 3 percent to an 0.76 million rate, and the West slipped nearly a percent to 1.21 million.
But sales in the Midwest improved 3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.32 million.
“Closings were down in most of the country last month because interested buyers are being tripped up by supply that remains stuck at a meager level and price growth that’s straining their budget,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun explained in the report. “The demand for buying a home is as strong as it has been since before the Great Recession. Listings in the affordable price range continue to be scooped up rapidly, but the severe housing shortages inflicting many markets are keeping a large segment of would-be buyers on the sidelines.”
On just single-family sales, the seasonally adjusted annual rate was 4.88 million last month.
The 1.96 million inventory of existing homes for sale was trimmed from 1.97 million as of May 31 and down from 2.11 million as of June 30, 2016.
The latest inventory worked out to a 4.3-month supply.
U.S. home sales prices averaged $303,900 in June 2017,
while the median price was $263,800.
First-time buyer share was 32 percent, while all-cash share was 18 percent, and distressed sales accounted for 4 percent of transactions.
Market time was 28 days.
