Nationwide Home Sales Drop as Prices Remain High
If you’ve been thinking about buying a home lately, you’re not alone in feeling a bit discouraged. Sales of previously-owned homes in the U.S. just hit a nine-month low. Buyers claim high prices and steep mortgage rates as deterrents.
According to the National Association of Realtors, home sales fell 2.7% in June, landing at an annual pace of 3.9 million homes sold. Experts were expecting a smaller drop, so this came as a bit of a surprise.
And while the number of homes sold hasn’t changed much from last year, prices sure have. The median home price hit $435,300 in June — the highest on record for that month.
NAR’s chief economist Lawrence Yun says this is mostly due to years of not building enough homes. “We just haven’t kept up with population growth,” he said, adding that this has made it especially tough for first-time buyers.
The popular 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged around 6.73% in June.
Yun believes that if rates dropped to 6%, it could open the door for 160,000 more renters to become homeowners.
President Donald Trump has blamed the Federal Reserve for not lowering rates.
For now, many buyers are playing the waiting game — and hoping for a better deal down the road.
