US home sales fade in June as prices soar to record levels

[ImNotGod]

Source: AP

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slid in June to the slowest pace since last September as mortgage rates remained elevated and the national median sales price rose to an all-time high of $435,300.

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes slid in June to the slowest pace since last September as mortgage rates remained elevated and national median sales prices hit unprecedented levels.

Existing home sales fell 2.7% last month from May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.93 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday.

Sales were flat compared with June last year. The latest home sales fell short of the 4.01 million pace economists were expecting, according to FactSet.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/housing-home-sales-real-estate-home-prices-64769d50ce9c16dee9ffb90c01735071

[AZJonnie]

1. This article should be considered part and parcel of this same story

https://apnews.com/article/real-estate-investors-home-sales-affordability-housing-7aa2bc78c87bfb1f292fe4321fe658cb

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Real estate investors are snapping up a bigger share of U.S. homes on the market as rising prices and stubbornly high borrowing costs freeze out many other would-be homebuyers.

Nearly 27% of all homes sold in the first three months of the year were bought by investors -- the highest share in at least five years, according to a report by real estate data provider BatchData.

I get calls a few times a week to sell to investors. This is all part of what I believe to be a larger, organized plan to turn the USA into a nation of impoverished serfs and tenants, subject to the whims of corporations for our very existences, begging for their scraps and largesse

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. What do you say/do

when they call? Or do you just let them go to voicemail?

[AZJonnie]

4. I usually talk to them because I tend to answer the phone

Often, if they are respectful from the jump, are not calling from a big call center, speak clearly, and I'm not too busy, I'll tell them the actual situation, which is not now, but they can try me again in 6 months because my parents are aging (my stepdad, rapidly) and live in the next state over, and there's a possibility at any point that I may be moving back to help one or both out with care, or possibly take possession of their homes, should the worst occur. And they still travel, a lot, to like Europe and such. And they are motoring enthusiasts, and their vehicle of choice is an old, rather unsafe type of car. They don't live super-safely, in a nutshell.

So, all told it's not unthinkable that I'd suddenly need to end up elsewhere, with more property, possessions, and responsibility than I'd ever desire to have. Ergo, when the time comes, there's good chance I'd just want to unload this current home in pretty rapid order, so I tell them it's fine to try me from time to time. At this point a couple of them have done exactly that, checked in every 6 months.

Sometimes they're annoyingly persistent after I tell them all this, but not typically

[Raftergirl]

2. Homes in my town sell in a day or two and for very high prices because there are so few on the market and

no land to build new homes. People want to be in our school district and they don’t care what it costs. But the vast majority of us are sitting on extremely low mortgage interest rates and so not putting their homes up for sale. I could put my home in the market right now, and it would be sold by tomorrow. But, I can’t go anywhere for the $800/mortgage I pay. Not even a crappy studio apartment would be that cheap. I also have the luxury of not having to downsize, because I never upsized.

Ever since interest rates rose, hardly anyone is selling here.

A lot of remodeling going on though, even more than usual.

I do know there are many markets around the country with a glut of houses on the market (like Florida) that aren’t selling at all.

[AZJonnie]

5. I feel you on the cost situation

Even though I have a 15 year, my interest rate is circa 2021 (so, killer), and what I spend on mortgage per month would get me at best a 2 bedroom apartment, maybe 2/3 the size, in this general area. With how fast my principal plummets with this loan, and housing prices staying steady at least, it makes NO sense to sell and move unless I had to, in the current environment. I'd imagine both our situations are being played out on a huge scale nationwide, leading to lower-than-normal inventories, which along with coinciding factors like interest rates, is leading to slow overall existing home sales.

[Raftergirl]

6. My kids sold their townhouse outside Boston in February. Got $50k over ask.Made $80k. Bought in 2021.

Bought a condo half the size (650 sq feet) in Boston North End for several 100k more but a 5 minute walk from work. Paid 30k under ask. They are very happy. The live style of a 5 minute walk commute is well worth it to them. Their commute before was 1 1/2 hours and they only lived 20 miles away.

They also bought another condo in Boston in 2022 that they rent out and bought a condo in McClean, VA, in 2024, which they also rent (to her brother.)

In a couple of years they want to buy a single family home in Boston and they will keep the North End condo to rent out.

They have been able to put a lot of $$$ down on what they buy so don’t really care about the interest rates and the rent they get cover the mortgages and taxes.

I’m amazed at what they have been able to do at a relatively young age (31, 30) in such expensive RE markets. And they didn’t ask for any help with from us parents.