U.S. home sales drop 5% in June

Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell 5.1% in June, a national trade group said Thursday.

Although that's a drop from the prior month, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.37 million units was a 9.8% increase from June 2009.

Many economists are expecting sales to wane in coming months after the expiration of a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 expired April 30. Buyers who qualified for the credit still have until Sept. 30 to close their deals, and that will likely affect the data as sales are counted when deals close.

“Broadly speaking, sales closed after the home-buyer tax credit will be significantly lower compared to the credit-induced spring surge,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for National Assn. of Realtors. “Only when jobs are created at a sufficient pace will home sales return to sustainable, healthy levels.”

A total housing inventory of 3.99 million previously owned homes remained available for sale at the end of June, a 2.5% increase from the prior month. That represents an 8.9-month supply at the current sales pace. 

The national median home price for all housing types was $183,700 in June, a 1% increase from June 2009.

-- Alejandro Lazo

Comments

[AngryMobVoter]

The problems with the economy will not go away until we end the reckless spending and stop the trend toward oppressive government regulation.

The Congress and current Administration have put the country on a course of reckless government spending that has mortgaged the future of all Americans especially future generations. The only way to fix this long term structural problem is to create a pro-growth atmosphere for business. To do this we must reduce taxes NOW. How many different taxes does a business or individual pay on a regular basis? We must eliminate number and complexity of all these taxes and reduce the tax burden.

We also need to end the micro-management of business and the economy. Until we GREATLY reduce the tax burden on business and consumers and remove the senseless regulations that accomplish little in relation to the cost they impose, our future is bleak.

REMEMBER IN November...VOTE THEM OUT!!!

[jimbojones]

cake

[Scott]

yea, vote them out and the ones that take their place will be just a reckless.

[Mr Mike]

The economy will slide until jobs begin to return to the US.
This will only happen after our standard of living equals that of China, or after we impose tariffs on goods made with off-shored jobs.
Don't blame the government or taxes for the poor economy-- blame your US corporations and globalization.

[Nick]

Mike is right. If anything, we need high taxes to keep up with the spending we are forced to do on these wars that Bush sent us. That's where most of the country's debt comes from.