Existing home sales slip in July

July housing starts declined. July new home sales declined. And Thursday morning, it was existing-home sales that took a step backward.

Existing home sales declined 1.3% in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.44 million, according to the latest data from the National Association of Realtors. That compares to a slight downwardly revised 5.51 million in June.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said the second half of the year got off on a somewhat sour note as existing sales in July inched backward.

July’s sales pace is still 2.1% above a year ago, but is the lowest of 2017.

“Buyer interest in most of the country has held up strongly this summer and homes are selling fast, but the negative effect of not enough inventory to choose from and its pressure on overall affordability put the brakes on what should’ve been a higher sales pace,” Yun said. “Contract activity has mostly trended downward since February and ultimately put a large dent on closings last month.”

Listings in July typically went under contract in under 30 days for the fourth consecutive month because of high buyer demand, but existing-home sales ultimately pulled back as large declines in the Northeast and Midwest outweighed sales increases in the South and West, according to the NAR.

The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $258,300, up 6.2% from July 2016 ($243,200). July’s price increase marks the 65th straight month of year-over-year gains.

See the NAR's full release.

As previously reported, housing starts declined 4.8% in July, compared to June. New home sales declined 9.4%.