Existing-home sales rose for the third consecutive month with inventory easing and home prices declining less sharply in June. The increase nationally is 3.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million units in June.
Total housing inventory at the end of June fell 0.7% to 3.82 million existing homes available for sale, which represents a 9.4-month supply at the current sales pace, down from a 9.8-month supply in May. Although local inventory levels do vary. In the Existing home sales figures is condominium and co-op sales which on their own jumped 14.0% in June - this is great news for those looking for that perfect condo!
More interestingly, first-time buyers accounted for 29% of transactions - this is likely due to the first time homebuyer tax credit. Also the number of buyers looking at homes is up around 12% over June 2008. However distressed sales accounted for a whopping 31% of sales in June
