June 2021 Existing-Home Sales Bounce Back as Home Prices Hit Second Highest Pace

NAR released a summary of existing-home sales data showing that housing market activity this June increased 1.4% from May 2021. June's existing-home sales reached a 5.86 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, and June's sales of existing homes increased 22.9% from June 2020.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types rose to $363,300 in June, up 23.4% percent from a year ago. Home prices have continued to rise, and this marks the 112th consecutive month of year-over-year gains.

Regionally, all four regions showed double-digit price growth from a year ago. The Northeast had the largest gain of 23.6% followed by the South with an increase of 21.4 %. The Midwest showed an increase of 18.5% and the West had the smallest price gain of 17.6% from June 2020.

June's inventory inclined 4.1% from last month, standing at 1.26 million homes for sale and indicating some slight easing of the tight inventory condition. However, compared with June of 2020, inventory levels are 18.2% lower. This would mark 25 straight months of year-over-year declines. It will take 2.6 months to move the current level of inventory at the current sales pace, well below the desired pace of 6 months.

Demand remains strong as home buyers are snatching listings quickly off the MLS, and it takes approximately 17 days for a home to go from listing to a contract in the current housing market. A year ago, it took 24 days.

From May 2021, all four regions had inclines in sales except the South, where sales were flat. The Midwest had the biggest gain of 3.1% followed by the Northeast with an incline of 2.8%. The West region had the smallest increase in sales of 1.7%.

From a year ago, all four regions showed double-digit inclines in sales. The Northeast region had the largest gain of 45.1% followed by the West with an incline of 23.7%. The South had an increase in sales of 19.8% followed by the Midwest with the smallest gain of 18.8%.

The South led all regions in percentage of national sales, accounting for 44.3% of the total, while the Northeast had the smallest share at 12.6%.

In June, single-family sales increased 1.4% and condominiums sales were up 1.4 compared to last month. Single-family home sales were up 19.3% while condominium sales were up 56.5% compared to a year ago, reflecting the impact of the pandemic lockdown. The median sales price of single-family homes rose to 24.4% at $370,600 from June 2020, while the median sales price of condominiums rose 19.1% at $311,600.