Existing home sales slipped 2.4% in June, settling at an annualized pace of 4.09 million units and reversing a five-month high reached the prior month, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. At the same time, the typical price for a previously owned home reached a record $440,600, a figure 1.8% above where it stood twelve months prior.
Wall Street analysts had expected the annualized sales pace to come in around 4.20 million units, according to Reuters. On an annual basis, though, the June tally represented a 2.8% improvement over the same period in 2025.
"The back-and-forth in monthly home sales activity, driven by mild fluctuations in mortgage rates, shows how sensitive home buyers are to affordability conditions," NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said in a statement. "However, job gains — more than half a million since the beginning of the year — will continue to provide support for the housing market."
Because existing sales are tallied at closing, the June data captures buyer decisions made during April and May, a period when borrowing costs were still on the rise. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.49% in June, down from 6.82% a year ago, according to Freddie Mac. Measured against where they stood before hostilities in the Middle East broke out, however, rates are still roughly 45 basis points higher, according to Reuters.
The number of homes listed for sale totaled 1.56 million at the close of June, a figure that edged down from May by 0.6% while still running 1.3% ahead of the prior year's count. Given the current rate of purchases, those listings would be absorbed in about 4.6 months — well short of the 6-month threshold that analysts use to define a market in equilibrium, according to CNBC. The housing shortage is estimated at roughly 1.2 million units, citing the National Association of Home Builders, according to Reuters.
Higher-priced homes continued to lead activity. Properties in the $750,000-to-$1 million range saw transactions climb nearly 14% year over year, while the segment above $1 million posted an 18% gain, according to CNBC. At the entry level, homes below the $100,000 mark saw transaction volumes shrink 1.7% compared with a year earlier.
Regionally, the Northeast was the only area to post a monthly sales increase, rising 2.1% to an annual rate of 480,000 units, with a median price of $564,800. Sales fell in the Midwest, South, and West.
Newcomers to homeownership represented 33% of June closings, gaining ground from the 30% share recorded a year earlier, though still well below the 40% level the NAR views as a sign of a healthy market. A quarter of all transactions were completed without financing, a drop from 29% in the same month last year.
The June results follow a 3.2% monthly increase in May, when sales hit their highest level since December at a 4.17 million annual rate. That report had also shown the median price for a previously owned home reaching a record for that month, at $429,300, extending a streak of consecutive year-over-year price gains.
Yun also warned that stalled listing growth poses a longer-term threat to affordability. "Without consistent gains in inventory, home prices can accelerate. It is critical to introduce more supply to the market to widen the opportunity for homeownership," he said.