Existing homes sales rise for second straight month

Home sales increased for the second consecutive month in July.

Existing home sales rose 2% to a seasonally adjusted 5.99 million units in July, from a month earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors. June total units sold were also revised to 5.78 million. The results outpaced analyst expectations of a decline of 0.5% and 5.83 million units, according to Bloomberg consensus estimates.

Housing inventory at the end of July totaled 1.32 million units, up 7.3% from June’s supply and down 12.0% from one year ago. Unsold inventory sits at a 2.6-month supply at the present sales pace, up slightly from the 2.5-month figure recorded in June but down from 3.1 months in July 2020.

Meanwhile, median existing-home price for all housing types in July was $359,900, up 17.8% from July 2020, as each region of the U.S. saw prices climb. This marks 113 straight months of year-over-year gains. The median price growth was lifted by more sales of homes above $500,000 in price.

Read more from Yahoo Finance.