National Association of Realtors report shared on Thursday showed that existing home sales in the United States improved in July, breaking a four-month streak of declines.
The existing home sales grew by 1.3% for the first time since March to reach a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million versus 3.93 million units estimated by economists. The growth was likely prompted by improved supply and declining mortgage rates, although the sales still came down 2.5% from the same period in 2023.
There were 1.33 million units available at the end of last month, marking a 0.8% increase in total housing inventory from June and a significant year-over-year increase of 19.8%.
The Northeast region saw the largest increase in sales at 4.3%, followed by the West at 1.4% and the South region at 1.1%. The sales in the Midwest region, which is considered to offer the most affordable housing, remained flat.
On the other hand, the median price of existing home sales has increased on a year-over-year basis for the 13th consecutive month. At $422,600 per unit, the price jumped by 4.2% compared to the same period last year.
“Despite the modest gain, home sales are still sluggish,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a press release. “But consumers are definitely seeing more choices, and affordability is improving due to lower interest rates.”