July 2023 Existing-Home Sales Fall as Mortgage Rates Increase and Inventory Constraints Continue

NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this July declined 2.2% from July 2023. July’s existing home sales reached a 4.07 million seasonally adjusted annual rate. July’s sales of existing homes weakened 16.6% from July 2022.

• The national median existing-home price for all housing types reached $406,700 in July, up 1.9% percent from a year ago.

• Regionally, in July, three of the four regions showed price growth from a year ago. The Northeast east had the largest gain of 5.5%, followed by the Midwest with an incline of 3.9%. The South had an increase of 1.7%, while the West region was flat.
• July’s inventory of unsold listings as of the end of the month was up 3.7% from last month, standing at 1,110,000 homes for sale. Compared with July of 2022, inventory levels were down 14.6%. It will take 3.3 months to move the current level of inventory at the current sales pace, well below the desired pace of 6 months. Inventory conditions continue to be a challenge for potential home buyers.  
• It takes approximately 20 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market. A year ago, it took 14 days. 

• From a year ago, all four regions had double-digit declines in sales in July. The Northeast had the biggest dip of 23.8%, followed by the Midwest, which fell 20.0%. The South decreased by 14.3%, followed by the West, which was down 12.5%.   
• Compared to June 2023, three of the four showed regions showed declines in sales. Only the West had an incline of 2.7%. The Northeast region had the biggest decline in sales of 5.9%, followed by the Midwest with a dip of 3.0%. The South had the smallest reduction in sales of 2.6% from last month.  
• The South led all regions in percentage of national sales, accounting for 45.7% of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 11.8%.

• In July, single-family sales decreased 1.9%, and condominium sales were down 4.5% compared to last month. Single-family home sales were down 16.3%, while condominium sales fell 19.2% compared to a year ago. The median sales price of single-family homes rose 1.6% at $412,300 from July 2022, while the median sales price of condominiums inclined 4.5% at $357,600.