Sales of Existing Homes Fall 2.7% in JuneJuly 30,2025

Sales of Existing Homes Fall 2.7% in June

Buyers are facing high mortgage rates while sellers are having trouble adjusting to lower prices.

By Tim Smart

Source: U.S. News

Kevin Carter|Getty Images

An aerial photo of a neighborhood in Thousand Oaks, California, is taken on July 3.

The housing market remains stalled, with buyers looking for better deals and cheaper mortgages and sellers unwilling to accept offers that are below their asking prices.

Existing home sales fell 2.7% to a level of 3.93 million annually, below the 4 million rate that is considered a normal market. That was below expectations for a 0.7% drop.

Mortgage rates, meanwhile, ticked up to 6.84% for the benchmark, 30-year fixed rate loan. Demand for new mortgages rose last week by 0.3% and is 22% higher than a year ago. But refinancings, which are more sensitive to interest rate swings, fell by 0.3%.

Home prices continued to climb, though at a slower pace than in recent years. The median sales price of $435,300 rose 2% from a year ago, marking two years of annual increases. Higher priced homes sold better than those at the low end, with cash sales increasing to 29% of contracts – up from 27% in May.

“The record high median home price highlights how American homeowners' wealth continues to grow – a benefit of homeownership,” said National Association of Realtors Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The average homeowner's wealth has expanded by $140,900 over the past five years.”

Real estate experts say the market is now balanced, but that is a huge change from the past couple of years when sellers dictated the terms of sales.

“The housing market is in balanced territory after almost a decade of seller-friendly conditions meaning buyers, sellers, and the industry have to acclimate to the new norm,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in an analysis ahead of the report. “Although the structural housing shortage remains a concern, and lackluster single-family construction will exacerbate that shortage in the medium term, the financial considerations for many households evaluating whether to rent or buy are tipped firmly towards renting, with an estimated $900 per month advantage as of June. This helps to explain softer demand in the for-sale market.”

“The long run advantages of owning a home are still well-understood by consumers who continue to look for opportunities, but amid still-elevated mortgage rates and home prices, many of today’s buyers are approaching a home purchase with a fair amount of patience,” Hale added.

Interest rates remain high as the Federal Reserve holds them steady despite calls from President Donald Trump for them to be lowered. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has maintained that the central bank cannot lower rates until there is more data showing the impact of Trump’s proposed import tariffs.

The levies, announced with fanfare in April, have been repeatedly delayed and adjusted. On Tuesday, Trump announced a “massive” deal with Japan that would set tariffs at 15%. China, a key trading partner, is currently negotiating with the U.S. and has until Aug. 12 to cut a deal.

But with a labor market that has yet to crack and a roaring stock market, consumers are able to take on debt as home prices continue to stabilize and even recede in key markets in the South, such as Tampa.

Source:https://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/articles/sales-of-existing-homes-fall-2-7-in-june