Sales of second-hand homes continued to rise in July in the United States, driven by the high-end market, the National Federation of American Realtors (NAR) said on Monday.
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The number of old goods sold in July amounted to 5.99 million, an increase of 2% compared to June at an annualized rate, the federation said in a statement. This is more than expected since analysts were counting on 5.85 million.
«Release the pressure on prices»
«Much of the growth in home sales is still happening in the high-end market, while mid-to-lower level areas aren’t seeing as much growth as there are still too few homes available.», Reacted Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR. However, he stressed that professionals were starting to see an increase in stocks of goods for sale, which should help ease the pressure on prices.
Thus the total stock of goods available for sale at the end of July stood at 1.32 million, up 7.3% from the June supply but down 12.0% from compared to a year ago (1.50 million). The median price of older homes was $ 359,900 in July (+ 17.8% year-on-year). “Sales exceed demand for mortgages, but inventories rise and price gains slowSaid Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.
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The increase in stocks of available goods should “facilitate access to property for people who until then were unable to find a house to buy“, he added. Professionals nevertheless expect a further slowdown at the end of the year due to still low stocks and an unfavorable basis for comparison. The real estate sector had indeed experienced a boom in the second half of 2020, despite the pandemic.
Widespread teleworking, low interest and mortgage rates combined with rising household savings had caused a rush for larger homes and apartments. But the painful reduction in inventories and the dizzying rise in house prices had led to a slowdown in sales of second-hand homes between February and May, so much so that transactions had almost fallen back to their pre-pandemic level.
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