Despite the lackluster sales, home prices continued to rise nationally last month. The U.S. median sales price increased 1.8% in June from a year earlier to $440,600, an all-time high on data going back to 1999, NAR said. Home prices have risen on an annual basis for 36 months in a row. <\/p>\n
First-time buyers accounted for 33% of home purchases last month, down from 35% in May and up from 30% in June last year. Historically, they made up 40% of home sales. <\/p>\n
“Without a doubt, the affordability is a major challenge for people who want to become homeowners, which is the reason why we need more supply,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. <\/p>\n
The U.S. housing market has been in a slump<\/a> since 2022, when mortgage rates began to climb from pandemic-era lows. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes were essentially flat last year, stuck at a 30-year low.<\/a> <\/p>\n Through the first half of this year, seasonally adjusted sales of existing U.S. homes are up only 0.7% compared to the same period in 2025. <\/p>\n Years of soaring home prices, especially in the early part of this decade when rock-bottom mortgage rates fueled a buying frenzy, have left many would-be homebuyers frozen out of the market. And a chronic shortage of homes for sale nationally, due partly to years of below-average new home construction, has helped prop up home prices even in a multiyear sales slump. <\/p>\n Many of the homes purchased last month likely went under contract in April and May, when the average rate on a 30-year mortgage ranged from 6.23% to 6.53% — the highest level going back to late August, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac. <\/p>\n Those who can afford to buy at current mortgage rates or pay all cash are likely to encounter buyer-friendly trends in many markets. In June, median list prices fell 2.5% from a year earlier, the steepest annual drop on data going back to 2017, according to Realtor.com. <\/p>\n Still, housing market pricing trends vary widely regionally and locally. Consider, since peaking in 2022 at $449,000, list prices have come down 7.3% in the West and 3.5% in the South, but are up 10% in the Midwest and 12.6% in the Northeast, according to Realtor.com. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, home shoppers have more homes on the market to choose from than this time last year, although home inventory levels remain well below historical norms. <\/p>\n There were 1.56 million unsold homes at the end of last month, down 0.6% from May and up 1.3% from June last year, NAR said. That’s still well short of the roughly 2 million homes for sale that was typical before the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n June’s month-end inventory translates to a 4.6-month supply at the current sales pace. Traditionally, a 5- to 6-month supply is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers. <\/p>\n “We need to see 30%-40% growth in inventory,” Yun said. “We’re not seeing that, so inventory (is) still remaining relatively tight.” <\/p>\n Alex Veiga, The Associated Press <\/p>\n