Listen to this articleThe median price of existing home sales in the U.S. climbed to an all-time high for the second straight month in June, according to a report from the National Association of Realtors.
The median price of closed home sales hit $426,900 last month, up 4.1 percent from June 2023 and the 12th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
Home prices on Long Island also set new records last month. The median price of closed home sales in Nassau last month rose to $775,000, an increase of 13 percent from the $690,000 Nassau median price recorded a year ago and the highest ever. In Suffolk, the median price of closed home sales in June reached $640,000 for the first time ever. That’s a 13.3 percent spike from the $565,000 Suffolk median price recorded in June 2023.
Existing U.S. home sales fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.89 million, down 5.4 percent from the 4.11 million sales of a year ago, according to NAR.
At the same time, the supply of available homes for sale is on the rise. The inventory of unsold existing homes in the U.S. rose 3.1 percent from the previous month to 1.32 million at the end of June, or the equivalent of 4.1 months’ supply at the current monthly sales pace.
“We’re seeing a slow shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market,” NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun said in a written statement. “Homes are sitting on the market a bit longer, and sellers are receiving fewer offers. More buyers are insisting on home inspections and appraisals, and inventory is definitively rising on a national basis.”
All four major U.S. regions posted year-over-year sales declines, with sales retreating in the Northeast, Midwest and South and but unchanged in the West, according to NAR
Properties remained on the market for an average of 22 days in June, down from 24 days in May, but up from 18 days in June 2023.
First-time buyers accounted for 29 percent of sales in June, down from 31 percent in May, but up from 27 percent in June 2023.
All-cash sales accounted for 28 percent of home sales in June, unchanged from May and up 26 percent from a year ago.
Individual investors or second-home buyers, who make up many cash sales, purchased 16 percent of homes in June, same as in May and down from 18 percent in June 2023. Foreclosures and short sales represented 2 percent of sales in June, unchanged from last month and the previous year.
Home prices in the Northeast rose the most of any other region. The median price in the Northeast was $521,500 last month, up 9.7 percent from one year earlier.
“Even as the median home price reached a new record high, further large accelerations are unlikely,” Yun said in the statement. “Supply and demand dynamics are nearing a balanced market condition. The months supply of inventory reached its highest level in more than four years.”