Washington Business Journal
Housing prices continued to climb in June even as sales fell on constrained inventory, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The Washington-based trade group says existing home sales fell 5.4 percent from May, although sales remained 4.5 percent above year-ago levels.
Inventory fell another 3.2 percent last month, and the number of active listings on the market is now 24.4 percent below year ago levels.
NAR says the story now is lower inventory.
“Inventory continues to shrink and that is limiting buying opportunities,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “This, in turn, is pushing up home prices in many markets.”
NAR says the median price of an existing home that sold in June was up 7.9 percent from a year ago. June’s year-over-year gain in prices was the biggest since February 2006.