by Mike ‘Mish’ Shedlock
Mish Talk
Existing home sales fell a greater than expected 3.2% in July, to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 5.39 million. Sales were well below the Econoday consensus estimate of 5.52 million, and lower than the lowest guess in a range of 5.420 to 5.650 million. The median sale price declined as well. As is typically the case, the Econoday writer manages to spin the news as positive.
Highlights
Prices are coming down but sales aren’t going up, at least not in July. Sales of existing homes slowed to a 5.39 million annualized rate which is under low-end expectations and down 3.2 percent on the month. The year-on-year rate has been slowing and is suddenly under water at minus 1.6 percent.
The median price fell 1.4 percent to $244,100 with the year-on-year rate a little less respectable at plus 5.3 percent, a rate roughly consistent with this morning’s FHFA house price report where slowing is also the theme.