CHICAGO, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Existing-home sales rose 2.5 percent from June to July in the United States as falling mortgage rates boosted demand, the U.S. National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Wednesday.
Total existing-home sales, including single-family homes, town homes, condominiums and co-ops, went up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.42 million in July, with a year-on-year increase at 0.6 percent.
The rise reversed the downturn in the previous month, which saw a 1.7 percent decline.
As for regional breakdown, only Northeast transactions slipped, the other three major U.S. regions recorded increased sales, particularly in the West, where existing-home sales surged 8.3 percent to an annual rate of 1.18 million in July.
"Falling mortgage rates are improving housing affordability and nudging buyers into the market," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.
According to Freddie Mac, the average commitment rate for a 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgage decreased to 3.77 percent in July, from 3.80 percent in June. The average commitment rate across all of 2018 was 4.54 percent.
Meanwhile, NAR said that the shortage of lower-priced homes continued to push up home prices.
The median existing-home price for all housing types in July was 280,800 U.S. dollars, up 4.3 percent from the same month in 2018, marking the 89th straight month of year-over-year gains.
Yun said that the inventory of moderately-priced homes is inadequate and more home building is needed.
Total housing inventory at the end of July fell to 1.89 million, from 1.92 million available for sale in June.
Unsold inventory is at a 4.2-month supply at the current sales pace, down from the 4.4 month-supply recorded in June and down from the 4.3-month supply recorded in July of 2018, according the NAR's data. Enditem