According to the National Association of Realtors, sales of previously owned homes were 4.5 percent higher in June than they were the year before, despite falling 5.4 percent month-over-month. Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said buyer interest remains solid and shrinking inventory is pushing up home prices in many markets. In June, the national median existing-home price was $189,400, which is 7.9 percent above last year. The improvement was the fourth consecutive monthly price increase from the year before and the biggest gain since February 2006. Also in the report, total housing inventory fell 3.2 percent to 2.39 million homes available for sale, which represents a 6.6-month supply at the current sales pace. Listed inventory is now 24.4 percent below last year’s level. More here and here.
