Existing home sales fall

In July, sales of existing homes fell 2% year-over-year to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4,094,991, marking the lowest July level on record dating back to 2012, according to Redfin’s latest update. However, sales did rise 0.6% month-over-month. Here’s what else the firm reports from July:
  • Pending sales were down 3% month-over-month and 6% year-over-year, both the biggest drops in nearly a year
  • Median sale prices reached $439,170, just 0.7% below the all-time high of $442,389 set in June
  • Nearly 60,000 home-purchase agreements were canceled, equal to 16% of homes that went under contract, marking the highest percentage of any July on record
  • The supply of homes for sale rose a record 14%

Our take
Listings have started to pile up and grow stale, giving buyers more options and room to negotiate. Falling mortgage rates are also helping buyers. However, they have been slow to react. In part, that’s likely due to home prices staying near their record highs. Although the Fed is expected to start cutting interest rates in September and through 2025, markets have already priced in a fairly fast pace of rate cuts, which means homebuyers are unlikely to see a large drop in mortgage rates in the near term.