Existing Home Sales Off in June

Existing-home sales were down modestly in June, and home prices were up slightly from a year ago, an industry group said Tuesday.

The National Association of Realtors reported that total existing-home sales — including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops — declined 1.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.62 million units in June from an upwardly revised level of 6.71 million May.

Last month’s sales were 8.9 percent below the 7.27 million-unit pace in June 2005.

David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said the housing market is flattening.

Over the last three months home sales have held in a narrow range, easing to a level that is near our annual projection, which tells us the market is stabilizing, he said. At the same time, sellers have recognized that they need to be more competitive in their pricing given the rise in housing inventories. Home prices are only a little higher than a year ago.

The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $231,000 in June, up 0.9 percent from June 2005 when the median was $229,000.