US Existing Home Sales Fall in June as Months Supply of Inventory Jumps to 8.9
Posted on | July 22, 2010 | No Comments
The National Association of Realtors reports that US existing home sales dropped 5.1% in June to a 5.37 million. This is not a huge surprise as many analysts predicted that the expiration of the first time home buyer tax credit would continue to weigh on existing home sales even though the expiration was on April 30th, 2010.
As Calculated Risk points out, a more concerning number could be the months supply of inventory. In June, the months supply of inventory moved higher to 8.9 months and all indicators point towards double digit months of supply by the end of the summer and into the fall. The total number of inventories of unsold homes rose 2.5% to 3.99 million.
As many homeowners know, the higher the months supply of inventory the lower home prices are set to drop. With demand for existing homes declining with the supply increasing it will come as no surprise to see the Case-Shiller Index illustrate that home prices are dropping later in 2010.
In April we saw a 5.8 months supply of inventory but much of that was due to the fact that the first time home buyers tax credit was available. Since the expiration of the tax credit we have seen months-of-supply jump to 8.5 in May and 8.9 in June. Later today we will provide a chart illustrating the direction of housing months-of-supply.
Author: Heather Best
Tags: home sales > months inventory > months supply homes > months supply of homes > months supply of inventory > us existing home inventory > us existing home sales > us home sales > us home sales june
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