Existing home sales on the rise in June

07.26.09
By Timothy Jones

The U.S. housing industry got a shot in the arm this week as it was announced that more people have not only applied for a home loan in recent weeks but appear to have applied as existing home sales increased in June.

According to the figures from the National Association of Realtors, existing home sales say a seasonally adjusted increase of 3.6 percent in June with 4.89 million units being sold. While the figures showed the third straight month that the nation saw existing home sales rise, June's numbers were still 0.2 percent lower than the same time last year.

Perhaps related to the increase in existing home sales is the fact that home prices have declined, with the NAR reporting that the median existing home price in June was $181,800 - a 15.4 percent drop from June 2008 home prices.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, said the organization is predicting that the recent trend in increased existing home sales will continue into the near future.

"The increase in existing-home sales occurred in all major regions of the country," he said. "We expect a gradual uptrend in sales to continue due to tax credit incentives and historically high affordability conditions."

While Yun notes that all areas up the country saw an uptick in sales, the West saw the largest gain last month with a 6.4 percent increase to 1.16 million units. This accounts for a 11.5 percent increase over June 2008 numbers.

The West also saw the largest drop in existing home prices over the last year with NAR reporting that the median home price was $214,800 - a 24.9 percent drop in the last 12 months.

Figures released last week from the Mortgage Bankers Association found that for the week ending July 17, mortgage loan applications saw a 2.9 percent week-to-week increase.

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Existing home sales rose last month