July 18, 2012 (Jeff Alan)
Monthly sales of existing homes improved for the fifth consecutive month in June according to RE/MAX’s National Housing Report (NHR) while year-over-year, home sales have exceeded the previous year’s levels for 12 consecutive months.
Closed transactions of home purchases increased 2.1 percent from May to June and were 5.0 percent higher than in June of 2011, the twelfth consecutive month home sales have increased year-over-year.
Forty out of the 53 metro areas in the report posted year-over-year increases in closed transactions, down from 48 metro areas in May. Fargo, ND (+37.1%), Providence, RI (+29.5%), Burlington, VT (+27.5%), Manchester, NH (+27.2%), Augusta, ME (+25.2%), and Chicago, IL (+22.1%) recorded the highest year-over-year gains in closed transactions in June.
The median sales price of homes sold in June was 2.5 percent higher than in the previous month of May, increasing from $166,500 to $170,067. The median sales price was 3.7 percent higher than the median price of $163,995 in June of 2011. It was the fifth consecutive month that home prices have increased year-over-year following 18 months of declines.
Forty-four of the 53 metro areas posted higher sales prices in June than they did a year earlier, down from 46 metro areas the previous month. The areas that posted the largest price gains during the month were Phoenix, AZ (+29.5%), Detroit, MI (+23.3%), Miami, FL (+21.5%), Boise, ID (+16.3%), Denver (+14.9%) and Pittsburgh, PA (+9.5%).
The average number of days it took to sell a home in June was 84, eight days less than in May. The average month’s supply of inventory in June was 5.0, up from a 4.9 month’s supply in May, but still down from a 6.9 months supply of homes in June 2011.
Housing supplies continued to dwindle with the average monthly inventory of homes for sale declining by 5.0 percent from May and 27.4 percent from June 2011. It was the 24th consecutive month that the supply of homes for sale has declined.
Margaret Kelly, CEO of RE/MAX, LLC., stated, “Although the housing market has a long way to go to make a full recovery, all signs now show that it’s on the right path and has improved every month so far this year. This selling season is the best in years, and those who thought that the positive trends would quickly correct have been proven wrong, because many consumers again feel comfortable buying or selling a home.”
Tags: home sales, home prices, seasonal trends, closed transactions, median sales price
Source:
RE/MAX