In June, the nationwide housing market saw a significant decrease in home sales, while active listings were on the rise. However, these figures vary across regions of the U.S. The Calculated Risk blog analyzed data from 40 housing markets and found inventory in these markets is up 27.4% year-over-year. Home listings are also up 1.7% year-over-year but still at historically low levels. When compared with 2019 activity levels, new listings in all of the housing markets analyzed in the report were down, except in Jacksonville, Fla., where there was a more than 21% increase in listings. In general, Florida and Texas have seen the strongest boost in inventory during this time. Additionally, sales in each market are down, except for in Grand Rapids, Mich., which has recorded a 2.4% increase in home sales since 2019.
July sales will be mostly for contracts signed in May and June, and mortgage rates decreased slightly to an average of 6.92% in June, down from 7.06% in May. My early expectation is we will see existing home sales at or above the same level in July as compared to June, on a seasonally adjusted annual rate basis (SAAR).