Investing.com - Sales of previously-owned U.S. homes unexpectedly fell in June, according to figures released by the National Association of Realtors on Monday.
Existing home sales fell 0.6% in June from the previous month to an annualized pace of 5.38 million units.
Economists had forecast a 0.5% increase to an annualized pace of 5.46 million.
Existing home sales account for 90% of the market and are calculated when a contract closes.
Existing-home sales decreased for the third-straight month in June, as declines in the South and West exceeded sales gains in the Northeast and Midwest, according to NAR.
NAR indicated that, after June’s decline, sales slid 2.2% from a year ago.
The report also showed that the median existing-home price for all housing types in June was $276,900, surpassing last month as the new all-time high and up 5.2% from June 2017 ($263,300). June’s price increase marks the 76th-straight month of year-over-year gains.
“There continues to be a mismatch since the spring between the growing level of homebuyer demand in most of the country in relation to the actual pace of home sales, which are declining,” NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said.
Yun indicated that the principal cause of the decline was a “severe housing shortage”.
He noted that those houses on the market go under contract very fast and often receive multiple offers.
“This dynamic is keeping home price growth elevated, pricing out would-be buyers and ultimately slowing sales,” Yun explained.