Existing home sales increased 3.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted 4.89 million unit rate, the National Association of Realtors announced yesterday.
The sales rise to 4.89 million was larger than the gain to a 4.84 million unit pace predicted by Thomson Reuters’ poll of economists and followed a revised 1.3% increase to 4.72 million units, originally reported as a 2.4% rise to a 4.77 million-unit level.
On a year-over-year basis, sales overall were down 0.2% from a 4.90 million-unit sales pace last June.
“The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax-credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions. Despite the rise in closed transactions, many realtors are reporting lost sales as a result of new appraisal standards that went into effect May 1 of this year.”
